In Plymouth the Select Board, at their meeting on the 22nd, addressed the matter of whether or not to support a ban on the single serving liquor containers called nips.
Selectmen Chair Dick Quintal and Selectman John Mahoney were not present. With Selectmen Kevin Canty serving as chair, Charlie Bletzer and Harry Helm conducted the meeting—and heard Article 15, proposed by the Open Space Committee and supported by Sustainable Plymouth, concerning the nips ban.
WATD’s Bobbi Clark has more…
Sustainable Plymouth’s Ken Stone, spoke to the Select Board about the city of Chelsea where the ban on nips went into effect in 2018..
“…and there they found that its impact on alcohol related health and safety risks changed radically. There were 742 alcohol related ambulance and fire responses in 2017—that was down to 127 a year after the ban was introduced. No liquor stores have closed in Chelsea in the five years that the ban has been in effect.”
According to Stone, twice a year Sustainable Plymouth and the network of Open Space Friends “…organizes a cleanup up of the town of litter, that’s in spring and fall, and they’ve been doing that every year for over a decade. Nips are a major source of litter in Plymouth. Volunteers picked up over fourteen thousand nips in four days.”
Selectman Charlie Bletzer, who voted against the ban on nips, said he didn’t think a nip ban would stop litter in Plymouth although it would help—but applauded the effort of those who want to keep the town clean. He mentioned that there are 14 liquor stores in town and such a ban would hurt their businesses, and added that: “someone who wants to drink and drive is going to drink and drive, If they don’t get nips, they’re going to get half pints.”
Now,Stone notes that Selectman Kevin Canty, who voted in favor of the nips ban was, “…very particular in pointing out how nips are an enabling substance for people suffering from alcoholism”
The vote was 2 to 1 in favor of Article 15 calling for a ban on the sale of nips beginning in July of 2024, if approved at Fall Town Meeting, and that meeting begins on October 21st.
In Plymouth, Bobbi Clark, WATD News.
