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House Preventive Health Policy Division Advances Bill to End the Sale of All Flavored Tobacco Products in Minnesota

St. Paul, Minn. – Today the Minnesota House Preventive Health Policy Division voted to advance Representative Cedrick Frazier’s bill (HF 904) to end the sale of all flavored tobacco products in Minnesota. Advocates with Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation – a coalition of more than 60 organizations that share a common goal of reducing youth tobacco addiction and ending tobacco’s harm for good – testified in support of the bill. Removing flavored tobacco products from the marketplace is an important step to prevent youth addiction, improve lung health and encourage adults to quit.

“Minnesota has been a leader in taking on tobacco addiction, but we continue to play catch-up with a deadly industry that spends $100 million a year marketing their products in our state,” Representative Cedrick Frazier, chief author of the bill, said. “Ending flavored tobacco product sales is an important next step in our efforts to reduce tobacco use and to protect kids from lifetime addiction. We cannot let Big Tobacco’s profits dictate our stance on tobacco regulation. Let’s put the health of our kids – and the health of our Black brothers and sisters – ahead of Big Tobacco profits, so that we all may live healthier and longer lives.”

Flavored tobacco products drive youth tobacco use, which remains at epidemic levels. More than eight in 10 youth who ever tried tobacco started with a flavored tobacco product, and seven in 10 youth say they use e-cigarettes “because they come in flavors [they] like.” Today an estimated 3.6 million young Americans use e-cigarettes. The 2019 Minnesota Student Survey found 26 percent of 11th-graders and 11 percent of 8th-graders use e-cigarettes (a 54 percent and 95 percent increase, respectively, since 2016). A comprehensive approach is needed to protect the next generation from lifelong tobacco addiction.

Menthol flavorings in particular give a cooling sensation and mask tobacco’s harshness, making it easier to start smoking and harder to quit, especially among African American smokers. The tobacco industry has used menthol flavors to racially segment and target certain customers, especially Black Americans, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) communities, and youth.

For decades, the tobacco industry has deployed aggressive advertising in Black magazines and neighborhoods, and used other tactics designed to hook African Americans on menthol cigarettes. These strategies worked. In the 1950s, fewer than 10 percent of Black American smokers used menthols. Today, 85 percent of Black smokers do, compared to 29 percent of white smokers. The exclusion of menthol tobacco in a federal 2009 ban on flavored cigarettes has institutionalized these disparities and cost thousands of Black lives.

“For over 60 years, Big Tobacco has marketed menthol cigarettes to African Americans. They advertised in Black publications and neighborhoods, sponsored concerts, and even drove around Black neighborhoods handing out free menthols,” said LaTrisha Vetaw, Director of Health Policy and Advocacy at NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center and co-chair of the Menthol Coalition. “One side effect of the tobacco industry’s campaign is that today some people think menthol tobacco is a Black thing. Let me make this clear: menthol is not a Black thing, it’s a tobacco industry marketing thing. We can’t wait another decade or two to address the harms of menthol cigarettes and flavored vapes. Let’s build on Minnesota’s leadership of strong, bipartisan tobacco prevention by passing this bill.”

Clearing the market of all flavored tobacco products will create a healthier future for Minnesota kids and directly improve the health of communities targeted by Big Tobacco. The COVID-19 pandemic adds urgency to these efforts, since current and former smokers are at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19. To make matters worse, communities targeted by the tobacco industry, including Black and Indigenous Minnesotans, are some of the hardest hit by COVID-19.

In late December, the Minnesota House Select Committee on Racial Justice issued extensive policy recommendations to address racial disparities. The committee recommended that Minnesota remove menthol and all flavored tobacco products from the marketplace.

Today the Preventive Health Policy Division voted 7 to 4 to advance the bill to the House Health Finance and Policy Committee.

Here are some additional quotations from testifiers supporting the bill to end flavored tobacco sales:

Dr. Alex Feng, Interventional and Diagnostic Radiology resident at the University of Minnesota said: “We are still living in the midst of a global respiratory pandemic. COVID-19 can have devastating impacts for anyone who gets it, but research shows smokers who acquire the virus have more severe problems and worse outcomes. This makes it more important than ever to help decrease the number of tobacco users, and especially to ensure young people don’t suffer from a lifetime of tobacco addiction and disease.”

Arjun Maheshwari, student and youth Leader at Edina High School said: “I’ve seen my friends and loved ones lured by these appealing flavors. We need your help in fighting back against an industry that spends millions in Minnesota each year to addict people to their deadly products.”

Shoreview resident Gene Nichols said: “In 2015, I was the Project Manager for a Minnesota Department of Health-SHIP Grant to investigate the use of menthol in the Twin Cities African American Community. The data collected from this project found that African American smokers support strong policies regulating menthol tobacco products. We also found that 50 percent of African American menthol smokers would quit if menthol products were taken off the market. We must do all that we can to protect the health and wellbeing of our youth and BIPOC communities against flavored tobacco products.”

Suzanne Nash, First Medicines Program Coordinator, Indigenous Peoples Task Force said: “Asema, or tobacco, was bestowed by the Creator as a sacred medicine for Native people. But when the Europeans came, they began working to overturn our traditional ways, to weaken us. This is very true of our sacred tobacco. Not only did they take it from us, they used our sacred images to sell their cigarettes. As a result, the sickness and death caused by commercial tobacco use have been enormous for Native people. I ask you to help protect our young people, and all the young people of Minnesota, by passing this proposal.”

Kelley Danielson, caregiver, parent and volunteer for American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network said: “I have seen how the tobacco industry’s tactics can lead to cancer, heartache, and ultimately, death, and I know how we fight back against this. Big Tobacco relied on my mom and stepdad to fill their pocketbooks for decades, but didn’t care about them when they were dying because of their products. Now, I see Big Tobacco has put a target on the back of my son, Jayden. He is 12 years old and in 7th grade. He’s biracial. The tobacco industry has said they reserve the right to smoke for the young, the poor, the black, and the stupid. They use flavors to hook kids, like my son, just to get the next generation of users for their product.”

Grace Plowman, student at Mounds View High School said: “You may think during the pandemic, students might stop using tobacco products, but they aren’t. Young people are still using e-cigarettes, even though many aren’t in school. Teens are more stressed, and they have opportunities and hiding places at home that they don’t have at school. Unlike cigarettes, it’s extremely hard to detect if someone is using them nearby. A parent wouldn’t even know. Some young people I know started casually using JUUL but today use disposable e-cigs and they’re spending all their money on these products. We must get all flavored tobacco products out of our stores.”

Lisa Smith, Health and Physical Education Teacher at Lakeville South High School and MNSHAPE Past President said: “For years we have taught youth about the harms of tobacco use, yet there is still a misconception that flavored tobacco products are safer than others. Taking flavored products off the marketplace would make it easier for our kids to avoid the temptation of trying tobacco.”

Joel Sipress, Duluth City Councilor, said: “While considering Duluth’s local flavored tobacco policy, I was persuaded by local community members that this policy was needed to protect youth from the predatory marketing practices of Big Tobacco. Today, flavored tobacco products serve the same purpose as did the infamous Joe Camel advertising campaign from years ago. Whatever remaining doubts I had were put to rest by the astounding sums of money Big Tobacco spent trying to prevent the council from adopting these restrictions.”

Dr. Susan Klenk, a family and primary care physician at the Mankato Clinic, said: “Every single year, Minnesota loses 6,300 residents and $7 billion to smoking. The individual health effects are catastrophic – and we all bear the human and economic costs. Since adolescent brains are still developing, nicotine can cause lasting damage and set kids up for long-term addiction problems. Unfortunately, tobacco companies have figured out how to maximize addiction through flavors, additives and nicotine content. Allowing flavored tobacco products to stay on the store shelves disproportionately harms youth, communities of color, American Indians and LGBTQ communities. Eventually, that targeting leads to a higher, unequal burden of disease and death. I urge you to end that cycle by supporting this lifesaving bill.”

Ms. Sylvia Amos, Director of Programs, Stairstep Foundation said: “I have seen the horrible consequences of tobacco addiction affect my family. For me personally, tobacco addition has cost me the life of my mother, the life of a husband, and the life of three aunts – all whom smoked menthol cigarettes. My mother started to smoke at the age of 11. She died from lung cancer, which was a direct result of her years of smoking Benson & Hedges menthol. Loss of life from menthol tobacco use is prevalent in my community. When will we stop putting profits over lives, and put lives above profits? Let’s start today by passing this bill.”

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 policies that reduce youth smoking and nicotine addiction, including increasing tobacco prices, prohibiting the sale of all flavored tobacco products and investing in tobacco prevention programs.

More info:

• Fact sheet: End the sale of menthol and all flavored tobacco products

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, ending the sale of menthol and all flavored tobacco products, and funding tobacco prevention and treatment 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, Minnesota Society for Public Health Education, 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.