The ninth-largest city in Massachusetts has joined the list of municipalities to raise the tobacco purchase age to 21-years-old.
On May 23, the Lynn Board of Health approved the increase, though they have not yet establish when the change will go into effect. That is scheduled to come at the board’s June 20 meeting, according to Michele Desmaris, the city’s public health director.
Additionally, the city approved a cap on the number of tobacco retailer licenses available in the city, as well as regulations about minimum prices and packaging for cigars. The city has not yet posted the regulations on its website, and a request for a copy of the new laws has not been answered, but a report from ItemLive.com states that a single cigar must be priced at a minimum price of $5.
Lynn is located approximately 12 miles northeast of Boston with a 2014 population estimate of 92,137 residents.
Update (July 31, 2017) — At its June 20, 2017 meeting, the Lynn Board of Health set the effective date of the increase to be Aug. 1, 2017. This story was originally published on June 6, 2017.