Liquor store fighting back against the City of New Bedford’s “Nip Bottle Ban”

“Freitas Package Store” located at 1295 Cove Rd, New Bedford is making a vocal push against the idea to ban the sale of “nip bottles” in the City of New Bedford.

The store is currently displaying a message reading, “Stop NB Nip Ban Sign Petition Inside” on their sign outside the store. They also posted this message on social media:

“New Bedford did you know the city is trying to ban nips without resident vote!?

Let’s push the conversation away from banning nips town by town without city wide vote. Instead let’s encourage our city representative and lawmakers to move this issue to the state and update the bottle bill that has not been updated since 1982. That’s 41 years ago…

Banning nips is not the solution.
Sign the petition.
City meeting Monday July 24th 6pm”

Other towns and cities across Massachusetts have already passed the ban on nips, including Fairhaven which made the decision at a town meeting on May 6th 2023. Some will say this is an overstepping of local government restricting small businesses, while others believe this is a step in the right direction in regards to a cleaner environment.

Steven Richards photo.