Massachusetts towns ban nicotine for a generation. Public health win or overreach?

If you were born after 2003, you will never be old enough to buy cigarettes in Chelsea, Massachusetts. And as of Jan. 1, in at least eight other towns.

Municipalities in the Bay State are determined to create a “nicotine-free generation.” And three Massachusetts legislators recently announced they plan to file a statewide version of the bill in 2025.

The regulations have set up an ideological battle, as local officials and their constituents wrestle with how far governments should go to protect public health. Proponents see such rules as a way to save lives and eliminate a major societal ill. Detractors see a Prohibition-style overreach that undermines personal freedom and threatens small businesses.