Dartmouth Board of Health Adopts Updated Prohibited Products List in Unanimous Vote

DARTMOUTH — April 15, 2026 — Dartmouth Board of Health unanimously adopts expanded prohibited products list and declines to schedule a nicotine-free generation presentation. The three-member board, chaired by Emily Michelle Olmstead, voted 3-0 to approve Appendix A of the town's prohibited products regulation, which adds newly marketed synthetic psychoactive substances to an existing enforcement list, after closing a continued public hearing and receiving no written comments. The board also voted 3-0 to retain Riverhawk Environmental LLC at up to $1,500 in applicant-funded costs to review an incomplete environmental site assessment for 80-82 Milton Street, a former auto salvage yard being converted to residential lots, after Director of Public Health Christopher Michaud warned that inaction would result in the incomplete report being approved by default. Five members of the public, including small business owners and a Cambridge-based tobacco-rights advocate, urged the board not to pursue a generational nicotine ban; after hearing them, Olmstead said she wanted the board to "decide for ourselves where this aligns" before accepting any outside presentation, and Vice Chair Susan Murray added she did not want the agenda "dictated by an outside group" — leaving the Nicotine Free Generation organization's presentation request declined without a formal vote.