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Boston adds hearing on tobacco rules

Email|Link|Comments (5) Posted by Gideon Gil October 1, 2008 02:17 PM

By Stephen Smith, Globe Staff

Boston health authorities have added a second time when the public can have its say on the city's effort to eliminate cigarette sales at drug stores and on college campuses, a measure that would also extend smoking bans in restaurants and bars to their outdoor patios.

A public hearing is now planned from 10 to 11 a.m. Oct. 8, in addition to the originally scheduled hearing from 5 to 7 that evening. The morning session was scheduled to accommodate people who will observe the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur starting at sundown that evening.

Both hearings will be in the city's Carter Auditorium at the Northampton Square complex, 35 Northampton St.

The Boston Public Health Commission is also soliciting written comments on the rules, which received preliminary approval last week. They may be sent by e-mail to boardofhealth@bphc.org or by postal mail to Boston Public Health Commission, Board Office, Attention: Julie Webster, 1010 Massachusetts Ave., Sixth Floor, Boston, 02118. The comments are due by Nov. 3.

The regulations would be some of the strictest in the nation and would also significantly increase fines for selling tobacco to children and eliminate cigar bars within five years.

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5 comments so far...

Why can't smokers smoke outside on patios???? This PC stuff is getting way way way out of hand.....Where is the Lawyer to sue everyone else for trampling on the rights of smokers?????.....If the product is legal in this country, then why can't someone do it on an outside patio????? RIDICULOUS PC MOONBAT SPITTLE

Posted by david October 1, 08 06:48 PM

When are these "do gooders" going to stop interfering in our lives. Mind your own business and let people live. You should focus your attention on more important things, such as crime, better schools, cleaning up the Boston Fire Dept. etc.

You're really out of control.

Posted by Coleen DiStefano October 1, 08 07:08 PM

If tobacco is being removed from drugstores because of the known health risks, why are they leaving soda and candy on the shelves? Where will they draw the line? How is it that government can put such regulations on a LEGAL product and get away with it?

Posted by AH October 1, 08 07:53 PM

Big Brother is watching...

Posted by Geroge October 1, 08 07:54 PM

Smokers may not think that their second-hand smoke will bother anyone else in an outdoor setting, but they're wrong. My wife and I enjoy sitting outdoors at restaurants during the summer months, but we have gotten up and left restaurants on several occasions in the past few months alone because the outdoor seating area reeked of cigarette fumes because some inconsiderate smoker was sitting at the next table, and their disgusting fumes were wafting right at us.

Your rights to poison your own lungs stop at the next person's nostrils.

Posted by Paul October 8, 08 04:36 PM

DO NOT HIT THE SUBMIT BUTTON MORE THAN ONCE!

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Elizabeth Cooney covers health for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. She previously reported on business and was an editor at the paper. Earlier in her career, she edited medical books and journals at Little, Brown, and worked for Boston magazine.