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Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation Applauds Lawmakers for Tobacco Prevention Proposals

Comprehensive Policies Needed to Address Youth Nicotine Epidemic

ST PAUL (10/28/19) – Today, bipartisan lawmakers from the House and Senate announced their support for tobacco prevention policies to combat Minnesota’s youth tobacco epidemic. In a morning news conference, Senator Carla Nelson (R-Rochester) and Representative Heather Edelson (DFL-Edina) again urged their colleagues to pass a statewide Tobacco 21 bill. Later, members of the House DFL caucus announced a package of tobacco prevention proposals including Tobacco 21, clearing the market of flavored tobacco products, closing tobacco tax loopholes, ending online tobacco sales, and dedicating funding to preventing youth addiction.

Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation, a coalition of more than 60 organizations that share a common goal of reducing youth smoking and ending tobacco’s harm for good, applauded the proposals and renewed calls for lawmakers to take aggressive, comprehensive steps to address this growing epidemic. The coalition supports a statewide Tobacco 21 policy, a prohibition on flavored tobacco products, investments in tobacco prevention and education efforts, and increased tobacco prices.

“The tobacco industry uses a variety of tactics and marketing strategies to lure kids into addiction, and there is no silver bullet to reversing the youth nicotine epidemic,” said Molly Moilanen, Vice President at ClearWay Minnesota^SM and Co-Chair of Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation. “We urge lawmakers to take a comprehensive approach to addressing this health crisis, including raising the tobacco age to 21, removing all flavored tobacco products from the marketplace, and ensuring high tobacco prices and robust prevention efforts. Nicotine addiction does not just affect youth from one political party or region of the state, so we need all lawmakers to stand up for kids.”

Data from the 2019 Minnesota Student Survey, which was released earlier this month, showed another jump in youth e-cigarette use. The survey found one in four 11^th-graders regularly uses e-cigarettes, and the rate of 8^th-grade vaping has nearly doubled since 2016. Rapidly rising e-cigarette rates come at the same time Minnesota has achieved historically-low youth cigarette smoking rates.

Kid-friendly flavors are a major reason for the rise in tobacco use. A recent national survey found that 70 percent of youth who use e-cigarettes do so specifically because of flavors. President Trump recently asked the FDA to remove flavored e-cigarettes from the marketplace, but the FDA has not yet followed through on that promise. Lawmakers should act swiftly to address all flavored tobacco products, especially menthol and mint products. To date, 13 Minnesota communities have restricted the sale of flavored tobacco products – and four of these prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco products altogether.

Since nearly 95 percent of adult smokers started before 21, Tobacco 21 can prevent a lifetime of addiction. Raising the tobacco age to 21 helps keep tobacco products out of schools, since there are few 21-year-olds in high school. The 2019 Minnesota Student Survey found that more than 70 percent of 11^th-grade students got tobacco products from friends. Minnesota now has 53 cities and counties that have raised their tobacco sale age to 21, and more are actively considering it.

In her media event, Senator Carla Nelson (R-Rochester), chief author of Tobacco 21 said: “The harms of tobacco touch everyone and our schools are ground zero for the vaping epidemic. We need to do more to address this vaping epidemic by raising the age and addressing kid-friendly flavors. We also want to see more people like Marty Davis and concerned business owners speak up and help us take an all-hands-on-deck approach to this crisis.”

Marty Davis, CEO of Cambria also emphasized the need for tobacco prevention efforts directed at youth. Cambria recently launched a peer-to-peer campaign called “They Lied. We Know.” “Kids have been lied to about what’s in vapes and they’ve been duped,” Davis said this morning. “Altria put $13 billion into JUUL and has taken aggressive marketing tactics to hook kids on nicotine. We need to let kids know what’s in vaping products and that’s what our initiative aims to accomplish. We will take this initiative across Minnesota and throughout the nation to educate our kids and schools in partnership with kids, parents and coaches.”

Prevention efforts are also needed to counteract the aggressive and predatory marketing of the tobacco industry.

E-cigarette giant JUUL recently was found to be using marketing strategies including social media influencers, summer camps and school programs that targeted kids as young as eight years old. Given those tactics, it’s no wonder that 76 percent of Minnesota 11^th-graders said there is “no, slight, or a moderate risk to using e-cigarettes,” in the 2019 Minnesota Student Survey.

In the House DFL media event, Representative Laurie Halverson (DFL-Eagan) highlighted her caucus’s comprehensive agenda for addressing youth tobacco use. “We have watched as Big Tobacco has addicted our kids with tried and true industry tactics including cartoons, misleading health claims and enticing flavors,” Halverson said. “We can no longer take a wait-and-see approach as our kids are facing an epidemic of addiction to new nicotine products.”

Representative Rena Moran (DFL-St. Paul) emphasized the need for flavor prohibitions to include menthol tobacco products. “It’s no coincidence that Big Tobacco has increased their efforts to market flavors just as they have in the African American community with menthol tobacco products,” Moran said. “Some communities have stepped up by prohibiting flavored tobacco products, and we should take this effort statewide. We should respond to the vaping epidemic with bold solutions that stop the pipeline of tobacco products to youth and people of color.”

Teen nicotine use puts Minnesota’s youth at risk for health problems including attention, learning and memory problems. Nicotine primes youth for lifetime addiction. The outbreak of vaping-related lung injuries also raises concerns and brings attention to the millions of youth nationwide who are regularly vaping e-cigarettes.

Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation supports a comprehensive approach to counter the youth nicotine epidemic and Big Tobacco’s aggressive marketing. Coalition members continue to work with lawmakers and communities across Minnesota to pass local and state tobacco prevention policies including Tobacco 21, flavored tobacco restrictions, youth outreach and commonsense price policies.

More info: Tobacco 21 fact sheet, E-cigarette fact sheet, Flavored tobacco fact sheet, Funding fact sheet

Key Facts:

• Nicotine is addictive and can harm the adolescent brain. Source: S. Surgeon General
• More than $100 million/year: how much the tobacco industry spends every year marketing and advertising their products in Minnesota. Source: Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
• Nearly 95 percent: of addicted adult smokers started before age 21. Source: S. Department of Health and Human Services (Results from the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health).
• 25 percent: estimated reduction in smoking among 15-to-17-year-olds, if tobacco age is raised to 21. Source: National Academy of Medicine

Findings from the 2019 Minnesota Student Survey:

• Percent of students who vaped e-cigarettes in past 30 days
  • Grade 8: 11 percent (95 percent increase from 2016-2019)
  • Grade 9: 16 percent (75 percent increase from 2016-2019)
  • Grade 11: 26 percent (54 percent increase from 2016-2019)

• Students aren’t aware of e-cigarette dangers
  • 76 percent of 11^th graders said there is either no, slight or a moderate risk to using e-cigarettes

• Most students got e-cigarettes from their friends
  • Got e-cigarettes from friends:
    • Grade 8: 71 percent; Grade 9: 76 percent; Grade 11: 72 percent
  • Bought e-cigarettes from vape shop:
    • Grade 8: 5 percent; Grade 9: 7 percent; Grade 11: 14 percent
  • Bought e-cigarettes on the internet:
    • Grade 8: 8 percent; Grade 9: 8 percent; Grade 11: 10 percent

• Combustible cigarette use falls to lowest levels ever recorded
  • Grade 8: 2.4 percent; Grade 9: 3 percent; Grade 11: 5 percent

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: A Breath of Hope Lung Foundation, A Healthier Southwest, African American Leadership Forum, Allina Health, 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 Corporation, Becker County Energize, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, Cancer Legal Care, CentraCare Health, Children’s Defense Fund-Minnesota, Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, ClearWay Minnesota^SM,  Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio – CLUES, Dodge County Public Health, Education Minnesota, Essentia Health, Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare, HealthEast, HealthPartners, Hennepin Healthcare, Hope Dental Clinic, Horizon Public Health, Indigenous Peoples Task Force, ISAIAH, JustUs Health, LAAMPP Alumni, Lake Region Healthcare, Lincoln Park Children and Families Collaborative, Local Public Health Association of Minnesota, March of Dimes, Mayo Clinic, Medica, Meeker McLeod Sibley Community Health Services, Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians, Minnesota Cancer Alliance, Minnesota Council of Health Plans, Minnesota Hospital Association, Minnesota Medical Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, Minnesota Oral Health Coalition, Minnesota Public Health Association, MN Association of Community Health Centers, MN Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Model Cities of St. Paul, Inc., NAMI Minnesota, North Memorial Health Care, NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center, Olmsted Medical Center, PartnerSHIP 4 Health, Perham Health, Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, Shift MN, 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.