Cumberland Farms sues six Mass. towns over flavored tobacco bans
Photo | Grant Welker
Cumberland Farms' store on East Main Street in Westborough
Westborough convenience store and gas station giant Cumberland Farms announced Tuesday a lawsuit challenging what it calls discriminatory regulations in six Massachusetts towns.
The regulations center around flavored tobacco and nicotine products, essentially banning them in Cumberland Farms stores. The company says its competitors are still allowed to sell them.
The lawsuit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court against the boards of health in Framingham, Sharon, Billerica, Walpole, Somerville and Barnstable, claims the regulations banning Newport menthol cigarettes, Copenhagen wintergreen smokeless tobacco, some flavored cigars and Juul vaping devices, allow smoke shops and smoking bars to sell the banned products.
In a statement, the company’s General Counsel Brian Glennon said the company wants to sell the products its customers want. He called the regulations nonsensical and frustrating.
“We're simply calling for a level playing field where we can continue to serve all of our customers, without unelected local officials taking away their right to choose where to shop and what to buy,” Glennon said.
According to Campaign for Tobacco-free kids, 156 Massachusetts cities and towns have enacted some kind of restriction or ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products.
However, Cumberland Farms in the press release cites U.S. Food and Drug Administration studies indicating most underage smokers -- up to 80% -- obtain tobacco products through a friend or relative and not an underage sale.
The company, citing the FDA, shifted the blame to online sales or vape shops, which account for 32.2% and 38.7% of underage sales, respectively.
In contrast, convenience stores, gas stations and liquor stores together account for 5.6% of underage tobacco sales.
The company has targeted Barnstable with its action, which includes a petition in its Barnstable stores asking for the regulation to be blocked or repealed before it takes effect next month.
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