Saugus health board votes to ban tobacco sales in pharmacies

SAUGUS – The Saugus Board of Health voted unanimously Monday night to adopt a new tobacco regulation that bans tobacco sales in Saugus? six pharmacies, restricts cigar sales unless the cigar is in a pack of four or priced more than $2.50, and bans the use of electronic cigarettes in public places, among other provisions.The Board of Health has been working for several months with Joyce Redford of the North Shore/Cape Ann Tobacco Alcohol Policy Program to write the new regulation, and on Monday Redford thanked the board for its work.?I?m so proud of the town for being a leader,” she said.The regulation caused some controversy over the last several weeks as two retail groups, one representing a pharmacy in Saugus and another representing auto repair shops, sent letters of opposition to the board.The regulation will go into effect on Sept. 1.In other business, the board heard an update from environmental scientist Stephen Weydt regarding asbestos work at the Belmonte Middle School.Weydt said the major asbestos removal work at the school will involve replacing windows, and will all be “heavily regulated” and performed by certified workers.Weydt also said any area where asbestos work is being done will be sealed off from the school and put under negative pressure with air filtered through a high efficiency filter. There will also be regular air quality tests done, he said.?There?s a lot of eyes on what?s happening here,” said Weydt.School Committee Chairman Wendy Reed said there will be an informational meeting on the repair project at the middle school at 6 p.m. on Thursday.The board also reviewed an environmental audit from the Wheelabrator trash-burning facility, which had taken care of several “housekeeping” issues found in an initial audit.?One of the main concerns that I had from the first audit was there was a lot of housekeeping issues,” said board member Pamela Harris. “Frankly we don?t want to see those anymore.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].