Mendon Board of Health weighs nicotine-free generation tobacco sales ban

Board of Health · Meeting of May 28, 2026

Mendon Board of Health hears pitch for generational tobacco ban, reorganizes leadership. The board unanimously re-elected Alan Greenberg as chair and Tom Fichtner as vice chair at its May 28 meeting, then spent the bulk of its session hearing Ken Elstein, a Belchertown Board of Health member, urge Mendon to adopt a nicotine-free generation regulation, a birth-date-based sales ban on all tobacco and nicotine products, joining 24 Massachusetts municipalities covering roughly 670,000 residents. Elstein cited an 80 percent vendor compliance rate in Belchertown after its January 2025 implementation and noted the policy survived unanimous Supreme Judicial Court review in spring 2024.

Health Agent Colleen Strapponi described the approach as "just tobacco products across the board" rather than a product-by-product ban, and said vendor outreach, a public hearing, and a regulatory amendment reviewed by town counsel would be needed before any January 1 effective date. Health Administrator Jack McLellan was directed to secure draft language for the June 10 agenda. The board also learned MassDEP awarded Mendon five PurpleAir particulate sensors at no cost, to be placed at town hall, the beach, MISCO, and other sites around town.

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Source: the Board of Health meeting of May 28, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.