Stoughton Store Owner To Re-Visit Menthol Cigarette Ban With Town

STOUGHTON, MA — Stoughton is set to ban the sale of menthol cigarettes in town at the beginning of the new year. But one convenience store owner will first get a chance to appear before the Board of Health to request an appeal of the ban.

Ron DiMatteo, the co-owner of Bob’s Famous Foodmart and Discount Liquors on Route 27, told the Brockton Enterprise he will meet with the board at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 14 and request the upcoming ban be appealed. He said his business will lose more than $100,000 in sales each year when the ban comes into effect Jan. 1. DiMatteo said his business doesn't sell menthol cigarettes to minors, and that adults are losing their right to use an adult product. He's started a petition to repeal the ban and has collected about 300 signatures.

"That’ll compute to jobs losses," DiMatteo told the Enterprise. "People are coming to the store saying, ‘What are they thinking?’ ‘Who is the town to tell me I can’t smoke menthol cigarettes?’”

The ban coincides with other communities around the state, including Brockton, that have implemented bans to keep flavored tobacco products out of the hands of children. Last May, a bill was filed in the state legislature to implement a ban at the state level for both flavored cigarettes and vape products. The sale of vape products has since been banned across the state when Gov. Charlie Baker declared a public health emergency because of pulmonary illnesses that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linked to vaping.

"We're filing this amendment to stand up to big tobacco," Sen. John Keenan, D-Quincy, one of the bill's sponsors said. "We're filing this amendment to protect our kids from disease and addiction. We're filing this amendment to end the trend."