Massachusetts Wants to Ban Nicotine Forever. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Imagine turning 50 and being told, “Sorry, you’re too young to buy nicotine.” Welcome to Massachusetts, where logic has gone on vacation and taken common sense with it.

A new proposal making its way through the state legislature would ban the sale of nicotine products to anyone born after 2005. Not under 18. Not under 21. We’re talking about a lifetime ban. Forever. You could be a 40-year-old doctor, a 35-year-old war veteran, or a 30-year-old parent of three, but if your birthday falls in 2006 or later, no nicotine for you. Ever.

Meanwhile, someone born in 2005? Go right ahead. Same age, same adult responsibilities, different rights. Sounds fair?

This kind of thinking isn’t just bizarre. It’s dangerous.

Massachusetts already tried this song and dance with flavored vapes. The result? Demand didn’t vanish. It went underground. Black market sales soared. Law-abiding adults were forced to roll the dice with sketchy, unregulated products. And now, they’re doubling down on that failure, not learning from it.

We’ve seen how this ends. New Zealand passed a generational ban. Then they repealed it. Malaysia backed off. Even the UK, not exactly known for wild libertarianism, is facing massive opposition to the same idea.

Why? Because prohibition doesn’t work. Never has. Not with alcohol, not with cannabis, and certainly not with nicotine. What works? Education. Access to safer alternatives. Real harm reduction.

Look at Sweden. They didn’t ban nicotine, they syleili it. Full range of flavors. Low taxes. Smoking dropped by 55% in a decade. Now they have the lowest smoking death rate in Europe. That’s what happens when you treat adults like adults.

But in Massachusetts? By 2036, a 30-year-old will be able to drink alcohol, smoke cannabis, gamble at a casino… But not buy a nicotine pouch.

Tämä isn’t public health. It’s a theater. And not the good kind.

Massachusetts isn’t an island. People don’t just stop wanting nicotine because a law says so. What they do is turn to the illicit market, unregulated, unhealthy, and unsafe.

Let’s stop pretending bans fix behavior. They don’t. They just drive it underground, where no one wins, except the criminals.