Lexington, Mass. Headed Towards Tobacco Purchase Age Increase

Lexington, Mass. appears headed towards an increase of the age to purchase tobacco products after the town’s board of health was recently given full control over tobacco and nicotine delivery products.

At the town’s annual meeting on March 25, the board was awarded the responsibility of regulating the sale of those products in a move to reduce redundancy and inefficiency in the setting of tobacco-related policies. While the board already had the authority to do so based on state law, the town also had a local bylaw that allowed the policy to be set through the Town Meeting, thus creating a conflict point.

While a timetable hasn’t been announced yet, the board has already stated its intention to increase the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21-years-old. Board of Health Director Gerard Cody told Wicked Local Lexington that the town will soon be joining more than 50 other municipalities in the state to raise the purchase age from 18-years-old.

Lexington is located about 15 miles northwest of Boston and has approximately 31,500 residents.

Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, the G-League's Valley Suns, and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.