A meeting in a Massachusetts town that could become the first in the nation to ban the sale of tobacco products came to an abrupt end just moments after it started Wednesday evening when critics of the proposed ban started cheering and speaking out of turn.

The three members of the Westminster Board of Health had to be escorted out of a packed school auditorium, where the meeting was taking place.

"It was getting too unruly and people were getting disrespectful and not following the ground rules," Chair Andrea Crete said.

Only three speakers made it to the podium for public comment before the meeting was called off, including Westminster's town selectman Wayne Walker.

"While I do support the goal and the efforts of the Board of Health to discourage tobacco products, I cannot support such a unilateral and radical approach," he said, applause erupting after.

"What did she think was going to happen? People are heated. People are angry," one resident said after the meeting ended.

Officials say they are fed up with tobacco products that appeal to young people. They say the easiest course of action is a total ban on sales within town lines.

Some Westminster business owners oppose the ban, saying it would only drive customers over town lines. But anti-tobacco advocates see it a different way.

"The same exact culture was around 15 years ago when we started looking at prohibiting smoking in restaurants and bars. We had the same kind of audience, the same kind of fear," Cheryl Sbarra of the Massachusetts Association of Health Board said.

If the town's Board of Health does pass the proposal, litigation already being planned may stop it.

"Under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, if a government takes away your rights, you have a right to receive just compensation," Thomas Briant of the National Association of Tobacco Outlets said.

Crete said residents can submit their opinions through writing from now until Dec. 1; after that, the Board of Health will take a vote.

Stay with NECN as this story develops.