Conn’s Blumenthal Praises Smokeless Tobacco Rules

Connecticut U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal is praising baseball’s new labor deal that will limit players’ use of smokeless tobacco.

The agreement does not ban smokeless buy cigarettes during games, but players agreed not to carry cheap cigarettes packages and tins in their back pockets when fans are allowed in in the ballpark. They’ve also agreed not to use smokeless cigarettes for sale during pregame or postgame interviews, and at team functions.

Blumenthal was among four senators who urged the union to adopt a ban.

Blumenthal said Tuesday that the decision “is a step toward putting MLB on the right side of history and public health.’’

He said professional baseball players should be positive role models and not celebrity endorsers of what he calls “an addictive product that kills.’’