BOSTON --The Boston Public Health Commission board will postpone until December a decision on proposed regulations to limit the sale of tobacco products and reduce workplace exposure to secondhand smoke.
The board had been scheduled to give final consideration to the rule changes Thursday, Nov. 13, but decided to take more time to review transcripts from two public hearings held in October and written comments submitted during a 60-day public comment period that ended Nov. 3.
The vote is now scheduled for the board’s next regular meeting, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 11, at the Public Health Commission’s offices, 1010 Massachusetts Avenue, on the second floor, in the Hayes conference room.
In September, the board gave preliminary approval to proposed regulations that would ban the sale of tobacco products at health and educational institutions, including pharmacies and drug stores and colleges and universities. The proposed regulations would also expand workplace smoking restrictions to include adjacent areas such as patios and loading docks, and prohibit smoking in hotels, inns, and
bed and breakfasts in Boston.
The proposed rule changes would prohibit the sale of blunt wraps, a tobacco leaf often marketed to youths and known to be used as drug paraphernalia; ban smoking bars in Boston after five years, including hookah bars; and impose steeper fines on establishments that violate the city’s smoking
regulations.
-BPHC-
November 12, 2008  |