Tobacco use to be illegal?
GREAT BARRINGTON — A student at Monument Mountain Regional High School is gathering signatures to petition the town to adopt a bylaw that would make tobacco use by minors illegal.
The irony is that Robert Bertram, 16, who will graduate from the high school next spring, will be unable to vote on the bylaw revision if he gains enough support to place it on the annual town meeting warrant.
Bertram is planning to attend Bard College at Simon’s Rock next year.
Presently, under state law, minors, of those under 18 years of age, cannot purchase tobacco. However, they can use tobacco, either smoking it or chewing it.
“It’s a loophole in the law,” said Bertram, a slight young man who speaks softly but firmly. “Minors don’t need to smoke. I think we could have a much more efficient society if they didn’t.”
If the petition is successful, Bertram said, it will be on the upcoming annual town meeting warrant in May.
Under Bertram’s proposal, which he borrowed from a similar bylaw in Lynn, minors who are caught with tobacco will be required to complete a smoking cessation program offered by Fairview Hospital. Their tobacco will also be confiscated.
If the smoking cessation program is not completed within two months, the offender will be fined $25 and they will be asked to complete five hours of community service.
A second offense would result in a $50 fine or the successful
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completion of 10 hours of community service, and subsequent offenses will result in a $100 fine or 15 hours of community service.
Bertram has already contacted Fairview Hospital and said on Friday that officials there support the program. In addition, he said he has also spoken with Police Chief William R. Walsh, who also supports the program. Bertram said he has contacted the town’s Board of Health, which has indicated that it would support the petition at town meeting.
Bertram does not smoke. But, he said, he has friends who do.
One of them told Bertram that she would support his petition, because she initially began smoking because she thought it was the “cool” thing to do.
“She said she thought it was a good idea,” he said of the bylaw. Bertram added that he wanted to make the town a healthier place for young people.
Anyone wishing to support Bertram’s petition can call his cell phone at (413) 429-1250.
