Lowell Board Suspends Branch Street Store's Tobacco License, Delays Start Date

LOWELL — September 3, 2025 — Lowell Board of Health suspends tobacco license, delays start after late-arriving owner pleads hardship. The board voted 4-0 to impose a three-day tobacco sales suspension on Country Farms Groceries at 268 Branch Street after Tobacco Control Program Director Caesar reported the owner sold a pack of Newport cigarettes for $12.75 to a 17-year-old during a June 18 compliance sweep of 28 stores — the only violation among all stores checked. Owner Muhammad Rashad, who arrived after the vote, told the board he was a first-time business owner distracted by a call to the state EBT office and was "already running on negative financially." The board declined to waive the suspension but unanimously voted to delay its start to the week of October 14 to ease the financial impact. Separately, inspectors found four Lowell public schools and two district-owned food trucks non-compliant, July recorded the highest Narcan deployment count since 2018 with 51 life-saving administrations, and the city confirmed the first human West Nile virus case in Middlesex County.