n January 2025, Newton’s City Council passed an ordinance so absurd, it could only have been conceived by people who think authority equals wisdom. By a vote of 19 to 4, the Council approved a “generational ban” on tobacco products. Anyone born after March 1, 2004, will never—ever—be allowed to purchase tobacco in the city. Not at 21, not at 35, not at 55. It’s a lifetime prohibition based solely on your birth year.

Let that sink in: a 25-year-old veteran returning to Newton in 2030 could be carded and denied a cigarette because he was born three months too late. Meanwhile, his 31-year-old neighbor lights up with impunity. What starts as a health measure ends in age-based discrimination enshrined in law.

My recent interview with Navy veteran, quantitative analyst, and Newton resident Steve Snider laid bare the lunacy of this legislation. “This struck me as a huge infringement on personal freedom and liberty,” Snider said. “Once the precedent is set, they can apply this logic to anything.”

Snider, who doesn’t smoke and carries no water for the tobacco industry, came to this issue because he recognized the creeping authoritarianism behind it. “No one argues smoking is good—but it’s a choice. City councilors…don’t know smokers. They want to erase it.”