On January 15, 2025, the Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) issued a decision affirming the Superior Court’s entry of judgment in favor of the Town of Braintree Board of Health in Cumberland Farms, Inc. v. Braintree Board of Health, SJC-13613, 495 Mass. 225 (Jan. 15, 2025). In so doing, the SJC held that municipal boards of health may impose fines for violations of G.L. c. 270, § 28, which statute prohibits retailers from selling, or offering to sell, flavored tobacco products, through administrative hearings conducted pursuant to Department of Public Health (“DPH”) tobacco regulations, 105 CMR 665. The SJC also held that the Town of Braintree Board of Health had sufficient evidence to find an “offer for sale” violation where the retailer’s district manager admitted that flavored cigars “were ‘delivered to the [store] and . . . put up for sale’,” in addition to testimony from the Town inspector and photographs of an open box of flavored cigars on the behind-the-counter shelf where the retailer kept all for-sale tobacco products.
Consistent with the legal arguments offered by Attorney Smerage, the SJC confirmed that the Braintree Board of Health has significant statutory authority to protect the public health through enforcement of the statewide flavored tobacco ban. Importantly, this decision reaffirms the broad authority of municipal boards of health to protect the public health and to enforce violations through statutorily authorized administrative procedures specifically crafted to allow for enforcement of violations without court involvement.
Please direct questions about this case to KP Law Senior Attorney Roger Smerage at [email protected]. For a more detailed analysis of this important case, see here for our eUdpate.