Berkshire Pipe and tobacco loses the license until December, after repeated violations Central Berkshires

Pittsfield – Bershire Pipe and tobacco are prevented from selling tobacco products by the end of the year.

The Pittsfield Health Council voted unanimously to suspend Tyler Street tobacco license until December 11, following repeated violations for selling Aromate tobacco what is forbidden in Massachusetts partially because of their call to youngamong other violations.

The store was fined $ 4,300 – the largest health council Roberta Elliott said he saw during his term – after a December 11 inspection revealed the sales of aromatic tobacco products, in addition to the necessary signal and failed to check the IDs.

It was not the first time the store before the board. Elliott mentioned that he has received at least nine violations in the last nine years, including one for selling flavored tobacco products in 2021.

“It is hard to be very nice,” said Andrew Plager, a member of the Board of Directors. “But it doesn’t seem to have taken this very seriously.”

During an hearing on January 8 on the fines issued in December, the member of the David Pill Board warned the representative of the NIPUN Saluja store that the next violation of any kind will lead to a suspension above the fines.

The health director, Andy Cambi, said that, during a pursuit on February 11, the store was not yet organized, despite previous requests, which made “impossible to complete an exact inspection”.

After an additional inspection, which included access to the locked rooms, Cambi found tobacco products scattered in the installation, including aromatic tobacco products, which causes him to immediately suspend the tobacco license with “without real time”.

“At that moment, I was very frustrated by the progress the store did, which is zero,” Cambi said. “I was tired of hearing” we will do better, we will do better “, because there were enough opportunities since the last hearing.”

Saluja acknowledged the violations at the meeting and said that cleaning the store was late due to a family trip to India, from January 12 to February 12. He said that there are no crowded or aromatic products and invited the Board of Directors to inspect the store again.

“All that I ask is to give us another chance,” said hello, adding that the store is losing sales every day. “If this happened again, you can suspend us for a year. It will not happen again, we have learned our lesson for sure. “

However, the members of the Board of Directors were not convinced and supported the suspension until December.

“I am inclined not to give them a break again because I have done this constantly,” Elliott said. “It is a privilege that we are expanding to sell tobacco products, and with this there is a huge responsibility to do it properly … and again from time to time you do not.”

In a telephone call on Friday afternoon, he was accused of accusing Cambi of threatening to request an revocation of the license during the inspection on February 11, if the store challenged the decision to the Health Council.

Hi also claimed that the Board of Directors was “unfair” to increase the suspension from 30 to 10 months.

“I don’t know why he is trying to attack tobacco business,” said hello.

However, when he asked to comment, Cambi provided the letter issued to the store on February 11, which states that the suspension “is also used with the intention to revoke the tobacco permit.”

“We make these decisions to the heart,” Elliott said. “We really care that tobacco sales and businesses are in line with the things we ask to do to really help control the sale of tobacco products to minors.”