Press Releases

Two More Minnesota Cities Pass Tobacco 21

Advocates Urge Lawmakers to Pass Statewide Policy Before May 20 Adjournment

MINNEAPOLIS (5/14/19) – Last night, the cities of Lilydale and Mankato voted to raise their tobacco ages to 21, becoming Minnesota’s 33^rd and 34^th Tobacco 21 communities. Today, Minnesota has more Tobacco 21 communities than any state without a statewide policy.

High schools across the country are experiencing what the U.S. Surgeon General calls an epidemic of teen e-cigarette use. Increasingly, communities and states are raising the tobacco age to combat these trends. Research shows that raising the tobacco age to 21 will reduce youth tobacco use and save lives. On Monday, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, signed their Tobacco 21 bill into law making Maryland the 13^th Tobacco 21 state.

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, again called on Minnesota lawmakers to pass Tobacco 21 before session adjourns on May 20.

“In Minnesota, we may not agree on everything, but there is strong consensus that we should do more to protect our kids from tobacco addiction,” said Molly Moilanen, Vice President at ClearWay Minnesota^SM and Co-Chair of Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation. “How many cities and counties will need to pass local Tobacco 21 policies before our legislative leaders decide to stand up for our kids and the health of our whole state?”

Skyrocketing rates of e-cigarette use threaten decades of progress to lower youth tobacco rates. The 2017 Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey found the first rise in youth tobacco rates in a generation, due to soaring e-cigarette and flavored tobacco use. Popular e-cigarette brands contain high levels of nicotine. For example, each JUUL pod contains more nicotine than a pack of cigarettes. That is a concern because nicotine in any form harms the adolescent brain and may prime young brains for addiction.

Tobacco 21 aims to keep commercial tobacco products out of schools and other places youth frequent. Reducing youth access to tobacco products can prevent lifetime addiction since nearly 95 percent of addicted adult smokers start before age 21. The National Academy of Medicine estimates that Tobacco 21 would reduce smoking among 15-to-17-year-olds by 25 percent.

Minnesota lawmakers can raise the tobacco age to 21 this year through the Health and Human Services (HHS) conference committee bill. The Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation coalition thanked lawmakers for including two important tobacco prevention and cessation policies in the House and Senate HHS omnibus bills – funding for statewide quit-smoking services and strengthening the clean indoor air act by prohibiting indoor e-cigarette use where smoking is banned. The coalition urges the conference committee to go even further and adopt two additional provisions from the House HHS bill – raising the tobacco age to 21 and dedicating unpaid tobacco settlement payments to health. These four provisions would help Minnesota combat tobacco addiction in all forms.

More info: Tobacco 21 fact sheet, E-cigarette fact sheet

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 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, 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, 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.