PITTSFIELD, Mass.— Health officials have worked to control cigarette smoking in the city but vaping poses a new problem for the younger generation.

Last week, Tri-Town Health Department Director James Wilusz gave a tobacco control update to the Board of Health.  As a father of a student, he reported that vaping is "rampant" in schools and happens in the bathroom like cigarette smoking did years ago.

The Tri-Town Health Department — comprised of Lee, Lenox, and Stockbridge — has administered a tobacco awareness program since 1994.

"We know that cigarette use is coming down but vaping is going up and all these other products that are on the market and you would think after 30 years that the state would finally write good regulations. There are so many gaps and challenges and holes in the state law. Big tobacco, that's their playbook. They're always light years ahead of us," he said.

"I mean, they spend billions of dollars in marketing, billions of dollars manufacturing new products to skirt away from the laws and so we're just like where we were 30 years ago, which is that we're in a different generation of different types of tobacco."

In December 2019, former Gov. Charlie Baker signed an Act Modernizing Tobacco Control, which imposed new restrictions on the sale of nicotine vaping, flavored vaping, and tobacco products.

A few months prior, the governor declared a public health emergency and put a temporary ban on the sale of all vape products in the state.

The act only allows the sale of non-flavored nicotine products with 35 milligrams per milliliter of nicotine or less. It also restricts the sale of non-flavored nicotine vaping products held to the same standard as licensed, adult-only retail tobacco stores and smoking bars.

Tri-Town's tobacco awareness program is not as regular in the schools as it used to be, as prevention strategies have shifted in the last 25 years. Wilusz explained that they aren't barred from schools but are encouraged to address the problem from a policy perspective.

"Although it's a state law that you can't smoke on public school grounds, you can't access it, the schools control their agenda," he said.

"So we aren't going into the schools but if I got a phone call tomorrow that said, 'Can you come to Pittsfield High School and offer a presentation?' I absolutely will."

Wilusz added that the industry is targeting young people and evidence-based strategies discourage punishing them for vaping or using tobacco products.

"You've got big tobacco is to blame for this and there are parents, there are educators, there are public health people out there that don't even know what these vapes look like," he said.

"I mean, they're like USB things now, they're sharing them, and I think schools just may get overwhelmed. Are you going to suspend the whole eighth grade? It's not an easy thing to tackle."

In 2022, the board approved an updated tobacco ordinance that includes a clarified definition for blunt wraps, a raised minimum price requirement for cigars, and violations that incorporate state law.

Pittsfield has a high smoking prevalence rate of 20.8 percent, which is attributed to adult use.  The state average is 13.8 percent.

Years ago, the city worked "aggressively" to cap the number of tobacco permits per capita.  Through attrition, it has reduced its tobacco permits from 52 to 42.

"You have really good regulations," Wilusz said. "Pittsfield has been a leader in a lot of this, the policy decisions that you've made and implementing them."

Flavor enhancers and Zyn nicotine pouches were also discussed in the meeting, as they are emerging products that could appeal to young people and skirt local and state regulations.

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