Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Upholds Brookline’s Generational Tobacco Sales Ban

In a significant win for anti-tobacco advocates, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled in favor of a generational tobacco ban approved by voters and enacted by the town of Brookline. The law prohibits anyone born after Jan. 1, 2000 from purchasing tobacco products and e-cigarettes, effectively creating what was dubbed a tobacco-free generation.

“Because the bylaw falls within the type of local law limiting or prohibiting the sale of tobacco products expressly permitted by the act, and because the bylaw is not otherwise inconsistent, contrary, or conflicting with the act’s minimum age standard, we conclude that it is not preempted,” Associate Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt wrote in the ruling. “The bylaw is rationally related to a legitimate government interest.”

In November 2020, voters in Brookline, Mass. approved a change to the town’s law that would prohibit anyone born after Jan. 1, 2000 from purchasing tobacco products and e-cigarettes, effectively creating what was dubbed a tobacco-free generation. After going into effect in 2021, a group of owners of gas stations and convenience stores sued, arguing that the town’s law preempted state law and that the Brookline Select Board was warned that its new law would likely not survive a legal challenge. In October 2022, the Massachusetts Superior Court ruled in favor of the town.

Brookline is located directly to the southwest of Boston and is home to approximately 60,000 residents.