BACKGROUND AND IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES: The endgame for tobacco must include ways to prevent new users from continuing the cycle of addiction and its psychological and financial impact, as well as the physiological injuries caused by product use. The most direct way to accomplish this is to enact policies that prevent tobacco product initiation. The Nicotine Free Generation policy seeks to do this by phasing out the sale of all non-therapeutic nicotine-based products beginning with the next generation of users.
INTERVENTION OR RESPONSE: In 2020, Brookline, Massachusetts passed a law prohibiting sale of all tobacco products to persons born on or after 1 January, 2000. Local tobacco retailers filed a lawsuit challenging the new law. They lost and appealed the decision to the highest court which unanimously ruled in favor of the town in 2024. Thereafter, eleven additional cities and towns enacted the policy, Many more cities and towns are actively considering the policy and legislation was filed at the state level on 17 January 2025 to make Massachusetts the first state to phase out the sale of all tobacco products statewide.
RESULTS AND IMPACT: While new data from Brookline is not yet available, no tobacco retailers have closed since the law was implemented in 2021. Compliance with the new law is high, according to health officials in the town. The most significant impact of the Brookline policy has been that it has generated interest in many other communities where, in addition to the Nicotine Free Generation policy, other updates and improvements to local tobacco laws and regulations have been adopted such as reducing tobacco retailer density and restricting the sale of nicotine pouches to adults-only retailers.
CONCLUSIONS: Nicotine Free Generation is a true endgame policy that has proven popular in one area of the United States which puts jurisdictions which adopt it on path toward the complete elimination of tobacco sales.