Press Releases

Flavor Restrictions, Prevention Funding Urgently Needed to Reverse Youth Tobacco Addiction

2019 Youth Risk Behavior Study finds a third of high school students were current e-cigarette users

MINNEAPOLIS (8/20/20) – Today the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) which found that one third of high school students were current e-cigarette users and 37 percent of high schoolers were using any tobacco product. The data mirrors recent trends among Minnesota students. Amid these skyrocketing youth tobacco rates, Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation renews its call for lawmakers to remove flavored tobacco products from the marketplace and invest in youth tobacco prevention.

“It is incredibly alarming that one in three high schoolers is using e-cigarettes, which can re-wire the brain toward a lifetime of addiction,” Molly Moilanen, Vice President at ClearWay Minnesota^SM and Co-Chair of Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation, said. “Minnesota must take swift action to reverse this epidemic of youth tobacco use. Ending the sale of flavored tobacco products, investing in tobacco prevention and keeping tobacco prices high are the next steps we must take to prevent youth addiction.”

Rising vaping rates have erased decades of progress to reduce youth tobacco use. The 2019 Minnesota Student Survey – the most recent state data available – found that more than a quarter of 11th-graders and more than one in 10 8th-graders used e-cigarettes in the past month. From 2016 to 2019, 8th-grade vaping rates nearly doubled and 11th-grade vaping rates rose 54 percent. E-cigarette use is harmful to young people because nicotine in any form harms the developing adolescent brain and can prime youth for addiction to cigarettes and other substances.

Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation is a coalition of more than 60 organizations that share a common goal of reducing youth tobacco use and ending commercial tobacco’s harm for good. The coalition is united behind four major policies that reduce youth smoking and nicotine addiction, including increasing tobacco prices, prohibiting the sale of all flavored tobacco products, investing in tobacco prevention programs and increasing the tobacco sale age to 21 – which was implemented statewide on August 1, 2020.

More info:

• Findings from the 2019 Minnesota Student Survey
• Map of local flavor policies: 16 Minnesota communities have restricted flavored tobacco products
• MSFG Fact Sheet: E-cigarettes: Threatening the Health of Minnesota Youth
• MSFG Fact Sheet: Prohibit the Sale of All Flavored Tobacco Products
• MSFG Fact Sheet: Funding Tobacco Prevention and Cessation
• Minnesota Department of Health page about COVID-19 risk to smokers
• Minnesota Department of Health public health alert regarding suspected vaping-associated lung injuries (EVALI)

About Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation

Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation is a coalition of more than 60 organizations that share a common goal of saving Minnesota youth from a lifetime of addiction to tobacco. The coalition supports policies that reduce youth smoking and nicotine addiction, including increasing tobacco prices, raising the tobacco sale age to 21, limiting access to candy-, fruit- and menthol-flavored tobacco, and funding tobacco prevention and cessation programs.

Partners include: The African American Leadership Forum, Allina Health, Allina Health | Aetna, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association in Minnesota, Apple Tree Dental, Association for Nonsmokers – Minnesota, Aurora/St. Anthony Neighborhood Development Corporation, Becker County Energized, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, A Breath of Hope Lung Foundation, Cancer Legal Care, CentraCare, Children’s Defense Fund-MN, Children’s Minnesota, ClearWay Minnesota^SM, Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio – CLUES, Dodge County Public Health, Education Minnesota, Essentia Health, Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare, A Healthier Southwest, HealthPartners, Hennepin Healthcare, Horizon Public Health, Indigenous Peoples Task Force, ISAIAH, JustUs Health, LAAMPP Alumni, Lake Region Healthcare, Local Public Health Association of Minnesota, LPCFC – Lincoln Park Children and Families Collaborative, March of Dimes, Masonic Cancer Center – University of Minnesota, Mayo Clinic, Medica, Meeker McLeod Sibley Community Health Services, Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians, Minnesota Association of Community Health Centers, Minnesota Cancer Alliance, Minnesota Council of Health Plans, Minnesota Dental Association, MHA – Minnesota Hospital Association, Minnesota Medical Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, Minnesota Oral Health Coalition, Minnesota Public Health Association, MNAAP – Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, ModelCities, NAMI Minnesota, North Memorial Health, NorthPoint Health & Wellness, Olmsted Medical Center, Open Cities Health Center, PartnerSHIP 4 Health, Perham Health & Living, Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, ShiftMN, St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, Steele County Public Health, Tobacco-Free Alliance, Twin Cities Medical Society, UCare, Vision In Living Life – Change is Possible, WellShare International and Zumbro Valley Medical Society. Find out more at: smokefreegenmn.org.