MA town should go through with measure against smoking

The  sleepy town of Westminster in central Massachusetts might soon become the first in the nation to ban the sale of tobacco products. Though ambitious, the effort is certainly admirable as the first step in a series of actions that could truly make a difference.

Deena Baum | Daily Trojan

Policies in the past have succeeded in curbing rates of smoking, but this ban, if passed, will get to the root of it all — tobacco itself. Since a study by the U.S. Surgeon General determined that there was a causal relationship between excessive cigarette smoking and lung cancer in 1956, there’s been significant progress. According to the Surgeon General, smoking rates among adults and teens are less than half what they were in 1964. And yet, 42 million American adults and 3 million middle and high school students still smoke. To this day, smoking is linked to about one in five deaths annually, remaining the single largest cause of preventable disease and death in the United States.

So, though smoking in restaurants, workplaces and other public areas is often prohibited to protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke, laws need to shift to help smokers themselves quit and prevent the initiation of tobacco use. The proposed ban would do just that.

For those who need an extra push to start quitting, the measure would help trigger awareness and motivation. The urgency is definitely there.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, smoking is linked to stroke, coronary heart disease and 90 percent of lung cancer deaths. Those who smoke are about 25 times more likely to get lung cancer than people who do not smoke. Smoking can cause cancer almost anywhere in the body, from the liver to the colon.

Besides those numbers though, the emerging market appealing to youth poses another threat. With 69-cent bubblegum-flavored cigars and dissolvable smokeless tobacco that resembles Tic Tac candies, the industry needs to be stopped.

Small businesses will take a hit if the ban is passed, but if this fight against smoking plans to move forward, that’s inevitable. According to the Inquistr, store owner Brian Vincent, who claims that about 5 percent of sales comes from tobacco products, said, “It’s going to send business five minutes this way or five minutes that way — no one’s going to quit.” He started a petition against the ban and has collected more than 800 signatures.

Contrary to Vincent’s statement, business will be sent further than five minutes. Colleen Conner, a resident who signed Vincent’s petition, said that if the ban passed, she’d have to drive 25 miles north to New Hampshire to buy her cigarettes in bulk. The distance will pose an inconvenience that could discourage smokers. Yet, it might be difficult to imagine this ban will make an impact on smokers seeking a fix when flood waters or ice storms would be no match for addiction-driven will. But this is definitely a starting point. If other towns enact the same measure, the impact will be greater. In the event the measure passes, the stores could instead attract more customers — those who are interested in quitting and do not want to be tempted to fall back on the cigarettes for sale.

Others, like Conner, however, have pointed out that fundamental change has to happen as a personal choice. “When you’re a smoker, you’ll quit when you’re ready, not because someone told you to,” she told Boston.com. The ban might not make people stop, but it could serve as a wake-up call.

Hopefully, more towns will follow suit after Westminister because change needs to start somewhere. Even if it’s just one step that doesn’t seem to come to fruition, the ban will still prop the door open for more measures that will, together, be able to save lives.

Valerie Yu is a junior majoring in English. She is also the editorial director of the Daily Trojan. “Point/Counterpoint” runs Tuesdays.