WORCESTER—Tuesday evening’s Worcester City Council meeting was marked by intense discussions and a wide range of emotions, with an item about cigarettes dominating the agenda.
The item requested a feasibility report from the city manager regarding how other communities in Massachusetts have moved toward eliminating the purchase of cigarettes or nicotine products in their municipalities. The proposal, which aimed to explore potential health benefits and financial impacts, faced strong opposition from local business owners and residents. Ultimately, the item ended up being filed after a council vote.
Neil Patel, a Northeastern University graduate and business owner, passionately argued against the proposal. “You take out tobacco, we’re out of business,” Patel said. “You take out sodas, we’re out of business. We only make profit on the top 10% of our sale. We have to educate people. People have choices and we make decisions based on what’s legal. I oppose item 9d and advocate that you think hard about people like me. I’m not sophisticated; I’m just speaking from my heart.”
Many residents and business owners echoed Patel’s sentiments, citing concerns about infringement on freedom of choice and potential harm to small businesses. They argued that gas stations and smoke shops rely heavily on cigarette sales for their profits, and that the proposed ban could put these establishments at risk of closing.
Yael Magen, an attorney representing Worcester business owners, issued a strong warning about the potential fallout of banning nicotine sales in the city. “Eliminating the purchase of nicotine products in your town will not reduce the sale of nicotine products for your citizens,” she said, “but it will only harm and hurt local business owners and the budget of the city.” She went on to predict that the move could force many small businesses to close and reduce employment opportunities, adding, “This will cause a hardship for the local businesses and put hundreds of them out of business, also reducing employment opportunities in the city.”
Magen also raised concerns about unintended consequences: “Residents will have to travel out of the city to purchase tobacco products. These purchases will reduce the taxes and the budget of the city of Worcester. This will only harm the city financially in a difficult way.” She added, “This will also increase counterfeit products and criminal activity so people can purchase just a cigarette in the town of Worcester. In addition, it will take the freedom of choice from the adults that do wish to purchase tobacco and nicotine products in the city.”
Councilor Luis Ojeda acknowledged the complexity of the issue while emphasizing the importance of the discussion. “These are conversations that need to be had, and people are all up in arms about this now. What concerns me is that I hear there are increases in criminal activity due to not being able to purchase cigarettes,” Ojeda noted.
Ojeda also shared some sobering statistics, including that cigarette smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States. “This is nearly one out of five deaths, and more than 10 times of US citizens have died prematurely from cigarette smoking than have died from all the wars fought by the United States.”
Ojeda stressed the importance of education, particularly for youth. “Almost nobody starts smoking after their mid-20s. Tobacco targets youth and low-income communities,” he pointed out. He challenged local businesses and the city to demonstrate their commitment to educating young people about the dangers of smoking. “We don’t know how we’re educating our youth, because we aren’t. I don’t see education anywhere in the city.”
City Manager Eric Batista highlighted that currently there are no city-led public education initiatives on tobacco use. However, he committed to exploring options, stating, “We don’t have any current public education happening through the city, but we can look into that and work with the public health department to see if there’s anything either ongoing or perhaps something they’re working towards.”
Councilor Khrystian King proposed a concrete step towards education: “I’d like to make a motion that schools reengage in the vaping curriculum that was provided through Recreation Worcester and our youth programming here in the city moving forward.”
King pointed out that the item did “feel a bit like excessive regulation and government overreach,” but also understands the health component and effects.
While expressing concerns about government overreach, King emphasized the importance of addressing the health implications of tobacco use. “This item does feel a bit like excessive regulation to me and government overreach, but I do understand the health component. We’ve come a long way and I think we can get to some of this. I don’t want any confusion about this particular vote though.”
Item 9d was filed rather than being sent to the city manager for further action.
The meeting also addressed an item that focused on plans for sheltering the unhoused during winter months. Mayor Joe Petty acknowledged the annual nature of this challenge and hinted at upcoming announcements regarding shelter plans. “This is an issue every year, and I know the city manager’s been working on this. Hopefully soon we have a new announcement to make regarding the shelter plans for the winter months,” Petty remarked.
Petty called for both short-term and long-term strategic plans to address homelessness in Worcester, noting the diverse needs of the unhoused population. “We have new Americans coming to the city of Worcester, chronically homeless here in the city, and I want to see us create a short term and long-term strategic plan on how to address the unhoused in the city of Worcester,” he stated.
Nuanced solutions are needed, he said, given the high visibility of the issue.
“You can see this everywhere you drive in the city. The problems may be the same, but the solutions may be different.” He concluded with a compassionate note, saying, “Most of these people are good people and we should help as much as we can, but we also need a plan moving forward.”
Council agreed to send the item to the city manager for further action.
Matt Olszewski is a freelance content and news writer based in Boston, MA. In his free time, Matt enjoys running, hiking or skiing. Matt is currently finishing up the MPH degree program at Tufts University. He can be reached at mattoskier@gmail.com
