Malden, Mass. Considering Banning Tobacco Sales to Anyone Born After 2003

In 2014, Malden, Mass. became one of the first cities in America to increase the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21 years old. Now, the city is considering becoming one of the first in the nation to introduce a generational tobacco ban.

On Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, the Malden Board of Health will hold a hearing about a proposal that would ban the sale of tobacco products and e-cigarettes to anyone born after Jan. 1, 2004. In other words, if you aren’t at least 21 years old in 2024, you may never be able to buy tobacco products or e-cigarettes in the city. This type of regulation, known as a generational tobacco ban, has gained steam in a post-Tobacco 21 world as the next frontier of sales bans.

New Zealand passed a generational tobacco ban in 2022, but that law is now being rolled back. Hong Kong and the United Kingdom are currently planning generational tobacco bans of their own. Last year, bills were introduced in California, Hawaii and Nevada that would have introduced a generational tobacco ban of sorts, though none of those bills advanced.

Malden is a Boston suburb, located less than five miles away from Logan Airport. It has a population of around 65,000 people.

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.