Prevention and Treatment Funding

Funding tobacco prevention and treatment programs

Minnesotans agree: We can do more to prevent kids from becoming addicted and provide quit-tobacco support to all Minnesotans, especially those targeted by the tobacco industry. Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation supports increasing public investments in tobacco prevention
and treatment efforts.

Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in Minnesota.

• If used as intended, cigarettes will kill more than half their users.[1,2]
• More than 6,300 Minnesotans die each year from tobacco use.[3]
• The annual cost of smoking in Minnesota is estimated to be over $7 billion: more than $3 billion in excess health care costs and $4 billion in lost productivity.[4]
• An estimated 574,000 Minnesota adults still smoke and need help quitting.[6]
• In particular, the tobacco industry continues to profit from addiction and disease disproportionately borne by the communities they target – including LGBTQ+, Black, American Indian and other communities of color.
• In Minnesota, smoking rates among American Indians are at epidemic levels (59 percent).[7]
• Lowering smoking rates and easing health disparities would create improved health outcomes, reduced inequities and lower health care costs that would benefit all Minnesotans.

The JUUL Lawsuit presents an opportunity to invest more state funds in tobacco prevention and treatment. 

• Minnesota is a leader in holding Big Tobacco accountable. In the 1990s, the state took an aggressive approach to suing the tobacco industry for the health and economic harms caused by their deadly products.
• In 2020, the State of Minnesota sued JUUL, Altria and four of its subsidiaries, taking a stand to protect consumers and the health of Minnesota’s kids.[8 ]
• JUUL developed sleek-looking products with menthol and candy flavors designed to appeal to kids, with sky-high nicotine levels to addict users. Each JUUL 5-percent pod contains more nicotine than a pack of cigarettes.[9 ]
• Investigations have found that JUUL used several pages from Big Tobacco’s playbook and targeted kids as young as eight with a marketing program including summer camp, school programs and hundreds of social media influencers.[10]
• Minnesota should prioritize any funds from the JUUL lawsuit for commercial tobacco prevention and treatment. JUUL settlement funds should help address the lasting impact of the e-cigarette epidemic and ease lasting health impacts of Big Tobacco’s unjust targeting.

Big Tobacco continues to aggressively market to recruit replacement smokers. 

• Each year in Minnesota, the tobacco industry spends more than $100 million promoting their deadly products, not including e-cigarette ads.[12]
• Youth vaping remains at epidemic levels. An estimated 2.55 million American students use e-cigarettes.[14]
• In Minnesota, one in seven (14 percent) of 11th-grade students and seven percent of 8th-grade students reported currently using e-cigarettes in 2022.[15]
• The CDC recommends that Minnesota spend $53 million per year to have an effective, comprehensive tobacco control program.[16] Minnesota is only spending a fraction of that recommended amount.
• The state of Minnesota collected nearly $800 million in tobacco taxes and settlement fees last year, but less than 1.5% ($11.7 million) of that was spent on tobacco prevention and treatment.
• The 2020 Statewide Tobacco Survey found that 64 percent of Minnesota residents support increasing state funding for youth tobacco prevention by $15 million a year.[17]
• As Big Tobacco continues to work hard to addict future generations with e-cigarettes and other tobacco products, the need for funding for commercial tobacco prevention and treatment programs has never been greater.

Investments in tobacco prevention and treatment save thousands of lives and billions of dollars.  

• Minnesota’s comprehensive investments in tobacco prevention and treatment have saved thousands of lives and billions of dollars.
• Since 1999, adult smoking prevalence in Minnesota fell by 37.5 percent, from 22.1 percent in 1999 to 13.8 percent in 2018.[19]
• Youth smoking has declined 70 percent.[20] In the latest Minnesota Student Survey, combustible cigarette use fell to the lowest levels ever recorded.[21]
• Continuing tobacco prevention investments at the same or higher levels will save Minnesota more than 14,000 lives and $10 billion in health costs.[22]

For more information, view our fact sheet.

For more information on ClearWay Minnesota’s 2021 sunset, view this info sheet.