Amherst health board plans to expand smoking restrictions
Amherst Town Hall GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
By SCOTT MERZBACH
AMHERST — The Board of Health is considering tougher restrictions on smoking and vaping in Amherst, including prohibiting smoking at all inns, bed and breakfasts, and hotel and motel rooms.
A revised regulation titled Prohibiting Smoking and Vaping in Workplaces and Public Places, last amended in April 2010, will be discussed and voted on at the board’s May 13 meeting.
The revised regulation also adds e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems to conventional cigarettes, and will make them “prohibited wherever smoking is prohibited.”
Chairwoman Nancy Gilbert said at a public hearing April 8 that the board will accept written testimony by email and conventional mail, send to Health Director Emma Dragon, through April 30. At the public hearing, no residents voiced support or opposition to the changes.