Six City Tobacco Initiative

The Somerville Board of Health Six City Tobacco and Nicotine Initiative works to change community norms regarding the use of tobacco and nicotine. The Initiative works to raise public awareness about tobacco and nicotine control issues and the steps communities can take to protect themselves from the devastating effects of tobacco and nicotine use.

Our primary goals are to prevent young people from becoming addicted to tobacco and nicotine and to protect the public from secondhand smoke. Listed below are some of the ways we are working in our region to make smoking history.

• Educating tobacco and nicotine retailers about local and state laws, regulations, and ordinances,
• Conducting regular compliance checks of retailers to make it harder for youth to purchase tobacco and nicotine products,
• Responding to public complaints about smoking in public places or the selling of tobacco and nicotine to minors,
• Providing technical assistance on developing and implementing smoking policies for schools and businesses,
• Enforcing local tobacco and nicotine regulations and ordinances,
• Promoting changes in local regulations and ordinances related to youth access to tobacco and nicotine products and secondhand smoke in public places,
• Attending community events and health fairs to distribute information about tobacco and nicotine,
• Sponsoring special events to raise awareness of tobacco and nicotine issues and to keep all youth tobacco and nicotine free.

The Somerville Board of Health Six City Tobacco and Nicotine Initiative is proud to have staff that can provide services in English, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, and Spanish. Every effort will be made to provide services in other languages as needed.

The Initiative is 100% funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The Initiative is a joint project of the health departments of Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Revere, Somerville, and Winthrop.