A NECSEMA Transparency Project
Public records obtained under G.L. c. 66, § 10
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A ceiling on how much nicotine one pouch may containThis is the narrowest of the four restrictions. The product stays on the shelf in ordinary stores; what changes is its strength. Every version of the provision found in these records uses the same figure — six milligrams of nicotine per individual pouch — which is the number written into the model regulation that circulates among municipalities.
Six milligrams is below the strength of the best-selling products, so in practice a cap removes part of a retailer’s pouch inventory rather than all of it. A board that wants to keep the products available to adults while limiting their potency picks this option; a board that wants to control who can buy them picks the adult-only-store option instead. The records show boards treating the two as alternatives, and occasionally adopting both.
Every quotation below is verbatim from a document in this site’s library, and each entry links to the file it came from.
Amherst’s regulation carries the provision at Section D: “No retailer or person shall sell or distribute or cause to be sold or distributed oral nicotine pouches with a nicotine content greater than 6 mg/per individual pouch.” The same document caps nicotine in e-cigarettes at 35 milligrams per milliliter and exempts adult-only tobacco stores from that second limit. Amherst’s regulation also supplies the definition this section uses: “Pre-portioned pouches containing nicotine, flavorings, fillers, and other ingredients, not containing tobacco leaf, intended to be used between the cheek and gum to deliver nicotine, and do not require spitting as traditional smokeless tobacco does.”
In the record
The Mansfield record shows where the number came from. At the Board of Health’s June 26, 2025 meeting, the minutes record that “Ms. Donovan-Palmer asked the Board regarding nicotine pouches, if the Board would like to consider limiting the amount of nicotine available? Ms. Frenette stated that they suggested restricting it to 6mg/per individual pouch. Ms. Donovan-Palmer will add this to the Tobacco regulations to be voted on in August.” Mansfield’s copy of the model regulation, dated January 6, 2025, carries the checklist with both pouch options marked: “9. Oral Nicotine Pouches (§G) — Prohibit more than 6 mg of nicotine per pouch YES / Sale restricted to adult only retailers YES.” No public hearing was held on the measure.
In the record
Milton’s minutes record the vote but not the text. At the April 28, 2025 hearing — which opened at 7:08 p.m. and closed at 7:22 — “Chair Richards made a motion to approve the Chapter 5 ‘Sale of Tobacco Products to Minors’ and Chapter 6 Board of Health Regulations… The Board voted unanimously in favor,” effective June 1, 2025. The minutes list “Final Tobacco Regulations for Chapter 5 & 6” among the documents in the Board’s packet, but Milton did not release that text in its production, so the pouch provision itself cannot be read here. The minutes also show that the speakers at the hearing — Dr. Zachary Rich, Katharine Silbaugh and Mark Gottlieb — spoke in support of Nicotine-Free Generation, which was not part of the motion the Board adopted.
In the record
Somerville had both options in front of it. Its February 20, 2025 minutes record that “the new proposals in this draft include the Nicotine Free Generation, restricting the nicotine content in oral pouches and restricting the sale of oral pouches to adult-only retail tobacco stores.” The city adopted the second and not the first. Eight days later, the Melrose-based regional coordinator described the outcome to Mansfield’s health director: “Somerville discussed it at their last board meeting and I think that’s what they will do. They also discussed a nicotine content limit but decided not to pursue that.”
In the record
The draft regulation in Easthampton’s file shows the choice still open. Section G reads, in brackets: “[No retailer or person shall sell or distribute or cause to be sold or distributed oral nicotine pouches with a nicotine content greater than 6 mg/per individual pouch.] OR [The sale or distribution of oral nicotine pouches is restricted to adult only retail tobacco stores].” The city took the second option.
In the record