A public gathering in the central Massachusetts town for the first in the nation ban on tobacco and nicotine sales has ended prematurely after what officials described as increasingly unruly crowds.
Police escorted out the 3 member Westminster Board of Health which had proposed the ban. The board repeatedly asked the crowd to calm down so as to hear dozens who had signed up to speak.
The meeting was held in a school auditorium and was attended by hundreds of people many opposing the proposed ban. The people were carrying flags and protest signs, had taken part in a rally earlier.
The board said that the proposed ban in tobacco or nicotine sales will be helpful in keeping the products away from young people.
However, many in the tobacco industry feel that the new law will not stop the use of tobacco but will drive away customers and set up a thriving illegal trade of tobacco.
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Patricia Mayfield says
Smoking should be banned, it’s more addictive than heroin, it kills more people a year than anything else, and even second hand smoke can kill you. But, to stop it, you’ll have to close down all the companies that make cigarettes in the world or just blow them up cause they are never going to stop making cigarettes. And if you can’t stop them from making cigarettes you’ll get cigarettes sold anyway, Underground.
TheTruthAsIKnowIt says
So silly. You can’t ban vices. It only brings the vice underground and increases crime. Next thing you know, you have a 300 pound black guy selling loose cigarettes getting strangled by the cops.
FAIL