CONWAY — If you were born after May 12, 2004, you will never be able to purchase any tobacco or nicotine products in Conway.

The Board of Health, joining a growing number of Massachusetts communities, has adopted the so-called nicotine-free generation initiative, which prohibits the sale of nicotine products — including cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes and vaping devices — within a municipality’s limits in an effort to reduce teenage access to the highly addictive substance. Conway’s ban, the first in Franklin County, went into effect as of May 12.

“By adopting the nicotine-free generation regulation, Conway is taking a proactive stance in preventing nicotine addiction among our youth,” Dr. Daniel Sheff, a member of the Board of Health, said in a statement. “This policy aligns with our commitment to fostering a healthier community and reducing the long-term health risks associated with tobacco and nicotine use.”

The regulation is designed to phase out nicotine product sales over time, ensuring that individuals who are currently under the legal age to purchase such products will never be legally permitted to do so in Conway in the future.

The Board of Health worked in partnership with the Franklin Regional Council of Governments’ Cooperative Public Health Service, which is managed by Randy Crochier. Crochier said the initiative’s goal is to prevent youth from accessing nicotine and forming an addiction.

“The health benefits are long-term,” he said in a phone interview this week. “Every study I’ve ever seen shows that the longer you prevent somebody from using tobacco, the less likely they are going to use it later in life.”

The Communities That Care Coalition’s 2024 Student Health Survey shows that middle and high school students in Franklin County and the North Quabbin region are smoking and vaping significantly less. Within a 30-day window preceding the 2014 survey, roughly 11% of students smoked cigarettes compared to 4% in 2024. Although the survey only began asking survey respondents about vaping in 2016, when 18% of students surveyed reported having used electronic cigarettes within 30 days of the survey, vaping rates, now at 15%, have dropped slightly since 2016 and significantly from a peak in 2019 when roughly 32% of students reported vaping.

The effects of the ban in Conway will be limited, as the only retail store that sells tobacco products is Baker’s Country Store. Helen Baker, the longtime owner of the store, said the only nicotine products she has are a small offering of cigarette brands and the ban will not have a big impact on business.

Conway joins Belchertown and Pelham as the only two communities in western Massachusetts to prohibit the sale of nicotine to those born after a specific date. In a similar vein, Montague in 2024 banned the sale of nicotine pouches, such as the popular ZYN pouches, throughout town.

Brookline, in 2020, was the first community in the United States to implement the nicotine-free generation initiative. Other Massachusetts communities following in Brookline’s footsteps include Chelsea, Concord, Melrose, Needham, Newton and Somerville.

“It really is a new initiative and, 100% honestly, I have not necessarily encouraged my boards to do it. I thought we ought to leave it to the towns,” Crochier said. “Conway wanted to be out on the forefront and I give them a ton of credit for that.”

There is also an initiative at the State House, as Rep. Tommy Vitolo, D-Brookline, has filed H.2562, which would prohibit the sale of tobacco products to people born on or after Jan. 1, 2026. A hearing on the legislation is scheduled for Monday, July 14.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.