Throughout the US, an increasing number of communities are taking motion to guard their residents from the lethal, manipulative techniques of the tobacco trade. What was as soon as thought-about an formidable imaginative and prescient—the tobacco endgame—is quickly changing into a actuality on the native degree.
In Massachusetts, 19 cities (as of November 5, 2025) have adopted Nicotine-Free Era (NFG) insurance policies. These groundbreaking measures stop the sale of tobacco and nicotine merchandise to anybody born after a sure yr, successfully making a future era free from nicotine dependancy. With further cities anticipated to comply with, Massachusetts is main the nation on this transformative method to a tobacco-free future.
Throughout the U.S., cities are exploring and implementing further endgame coverage methods. Three cities in California have fully ended the sale of all tobacco merchandise, beginning with Beverly Hills, which adopted its coverage in 2019 and carried out it in 2021. The third California city, Tiburon, finalized its gross sales ban on November 5, 2025, and can go into impact December 1, 2025.
Three cities in Minnesota and one in New York are phasing out tobacco retail licenses, additional shrinking the supply of merchandise that addict and kill.
Globally, the momentum continues. The UK’s Tobacco-Free Era Invoice has handed the Home of Commons and is predicted to be finalized this yr, and an analogous Nicotine-Free Era Invoice is pending in South Australia. Collectively, these efforts sign a rising worldwide consensus that defending younger folks from a lethal dependancy should take priority over tobacco trade income.
Endgame insurance policies share a standard purpose: to eradicate the sale of economic tobacco merchandise. It’s not radical to finish tobacco gross sales—it’s radical that such lethal merchandise are nonetheless bought in any respect.
Tobacco endgame insurance policies are a common sense, justice-driven response to many years of preventable hurt. They signify a turning level: a dedication to defending public well being, correcting a lethal injustice, and constructing secure, wholesome communities for generations to come back.
