In 1998, ClearWay Minnesota was founded with $202 million of Minnesota’s settlement from the tobacco companies. The organization had a limited life and ended its work on December 31, 2021.

From 1998 to 2021, ClearWay Minnesota led the fight against commercial tobacco use, Minnesota’s top preventable cause of death and disease. Its vision was to eliminate the harm tobacco causes the people of Minnesota. As an independent nonprofit, ClearWay Minnesota aimed to enhance life for all Minnesotans by reducing tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke through research, action and collaboration. ClearWay Minnesota’s scope was among the broadest of any single tobacco control organization in the country.

For more than two decades, ClearWay Minnesota provided the majority of funding for tobacco prevention and treatment efforts across the state. Extending its reach through smart investments, the organization spent more than $284 million on activities aimed at reducing commercial tobacco’s harm in the state, yielding incredible results:

• » Helping 200,000 individual tobacco users make quit attempts using free, science-based tools through a program called QUITPLAN Services;
• » Funding more than $33 million in grants to organizations conducting research on tobacco use in Minnesota, and leading major research initiatives like the Minnesota Adult Tobacco Survey (MATS) and the Tribal Tobacco Use Project (TTUP);
• » Organizing campaigns to pass policies that prevent youth tobacco initiation and make it easier for smokers to quit, including Minnesota’s strong smoke-free indoor air and Tobacco 21 laws, tobacco price increases, flavored tobacco sales restrictions and prohibitions, a modernization of existing tobacco statutes to cover innovative tobacco products, and others;
• » Conducting outreach and programs to reduce commercial tobacco use among populations disproportionately harmed, including building capacity for public health and tobacco prevention leadership among Indigenous, Black, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) and other communities;
• » Supporting Minnesota’s American Indian Nations in their work to restore traditional tobacco practices and reduce commercial tobacco abuse in Indian Country; and
• » Creating advertising campaign such as See What You’ve Been Missing and social media outreach to educate about tobacco’s harms, direct tobacco users to quitting help and promote strategies that prevent or reduce commercial tobacco use.

Through ClearWay Minnesota and its partnerships with other organizations, the state’s comprehensive investments in tobacco prevention and cessation saved thousands of lives and billions of dollars. Over the first 20 years of the organization’s existence, the adult cigarette-smoking rate in Minnesota fell from 22 percent to 14 percent. Its tobacco control investments helped prevent 4,560 cancers, 31,691 hospitalizations for cardiovascular disease and diabetes, 12,881 respiratory disease hospitalizations and 4,118 deaths. In addition, $5.1 billion was saved in worker productivity and health care costs. Many of ClearWay Minnesota’s activities are continuing to have long-lasting impact beyond its end of days.

You can learn more about ClearWay Minnesota’s life and legacy here. ClearWay Minnesota has ceased to operate, but since some grant-making records are required by law to be retained for a period overlapping its sunset, attorney J. Patrick Plunkett of Larkin Hoffman will remain as administrator until such requirements have expired. Mr. Plunkett may be reached at the offices of Larkin Hoffman.

While ClearWay Minnesota’s life has ended, the need for ongoing work to reduce commercial tobacco’s harms remains urgent. Please stay engaged in the ongoing efforts of Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation.

Those who wish to remain involved can also sign up to join the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s (ACS CAN) action list (https://www.fightcancer.org/actions/wait-youre-not-done) and continue to be notified of opportunities to engage in commercial tobacco prevention efforts.

Resources for quitting smoking and other commercial tobacco use:

The American Indian Quitline
Developed with guidance from the community, the American Indian Quitline from Quit Partner offers completely free and specially designed support to quit commercial tobacco.

MyLifeMyQuit
A free and confidential service developed by National Jewish Health, the nation’s number one respiratory hospital, for young people who want help quitting all forms of tobacco including vaping.

Quit Partner
Minnesota’s free way to quit nicotine, including smoking, vaping and chewing.

Note: Tobacco on this site refers specifically to the use of manufactured, commercial tobacco products, and not to the sacred, medicinal and traditional use of tobacco by American Indians and other groups.