Massachusetts town considers criminalizing all forms of nicotine sales

WESTMINSTER, Mass., Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Political tensions are high in Westminster, Mass., as the local board of health's attempt to ban all forms of nicotine sales in the rural town was met with staunch opposition by residents and local business owners.

"The Board of Health permitting these establishments to sell these dangerous products that, when used as directed, kill 50 percent of its users, ethically goes against our public health mission," Board of Health director Andrea Crete told a hostile crowd at a town hall meeting on Nov. 12.

That meeting had to be shutdown within 20 minutes of starting after repeated obstruction from protesting attendees.

"They're just taking away everyday freedoms, little by little," shouted 32-year-old egg farmer Nate Johnson according to the New York Times.

"This isn't about tobacco, it's about control."

In addition to concerns about freedom and government intervention, Westminster residents are also concerned about the effect a potential ban would have on local businesses. Residents who vape, smoke or chew would only have to drive two miles from the center of town to find legal nicotine sales.

"We need to keep Westminster dollars being spent in Westminster, not going to the next town over," Brian Vincent, owner of Vincent's Country Store, told the Boston Globe. Vincent says tobacco accounts for at least a third of his sales.