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BROOKLINE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld a Brookline bylaw Friday banning the sale of tobacco products to anyone born this century.
The ruling is "a victory to public health leaders who have been searching for a way out — a way for our next generation to avoid falling victim to the many pitfalls of tobacco use," said Brookline Director of Public Health and Human Services Sigalle Reiss in a press release.
The bylaw allows people born before Jan. 1, 2000 "who may already suffer from addiction" to continue buying tobacco products, making it a better alternative to an outright ban on tobacco sales, according to the SJC ruling.
It also puts less of a financial strain on retailers than a total tobacco prohibition, the court ruled.
Read More: Mass. Supreme Court Upholds Brookline Tobacco-Free Generation Law
Residents have mixed opinions on the bylaw.
"The government has no right to tell you what to do," one local told WBZ NewsRadio's James Rojas.
"I guess the town has that right," another local said. "I just think it's bizarre considering someone born in the year 2000 is 24 years old now. That's a full-on adult."
WBZ NewsRadio's James Rojas (@JamesRojasMMJ) reports.
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