The Minneapolis, Minnesota City Council has passed two new tobacco control regulations: an increase in the minimum price of vapes to $25 and a ban on new tobacco stores near schools to reduce youth smoking rates.
Core Points to Watch:
- Price control: Minimum selling price of vapes set at $25/cigarette, effective immediately
- Zone restriction: New tobacco retail outlets banned within 500 meters of schools, effective Aug. 1
- Policy goal: Interventions targeting the city’s 14 percent youth vape use rate
- Policy continuation: Another tobacco control initiative following the $15 minimum pricing of cigarettes in 2024
- Expected results: Reduce youth smoking through both price leverage and channel A two-pronged approach to control reduces youth exposure to tobacco
Minneapolis raises vape minimum sale price to $25
According to a July 10 report by MPR News, the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to adopt two new tobacco control regulations: raising the minimum price of vapes to $25 and banning new tobacco stores from opening around schools. Councilmember Katie Cashman said at the meeting that the move is intended to bring vape policies in line with the city’s restrictions on other tobacco products and prevent youth smoking. Councilmember Aurin Chowdhury, a co-sponsor of the ordinance, noted that it would reduce the health risks of smoking, including respiratory damage and mental health issues.
- “We are reducing youth exposure to tobacco through the most effective means of raising prices.”
Chowdhury emphasized during the vote. This is the city’s next tobacco-control initiative, following a 2024 increase in the minimum price of a single pack of cigarettes to $15 and a ban on stores offering test puffs and accepting coupons.
Simultaneous ban on new tobacco stores around school campuses
The 2023 Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey showed that nearly 14 percent of students surveyed had used a vape in the past 30 days. According to Emily Anderson, policy director for Minnesota Non-Smokers, the new regulations will effectively protect youth and community groups that are under the tobacco industry’s focused “care.”
- “Youth are extremely price-sensitive, and when commodities are beyond their ability to pay, the likelihood that they will begin exposure, become addicted, and continue to use into adulthood is dramatically reduced. The price factor can likewise drive existing users to quit, providing a significant incentive for hesitant smokers.”
Anderson explained.
The City of St. Paul is setting a national precedent by implementing a minimum price limit policy for cigarettes as early as 2021. Setting a minimum selling price reduces the financial loss for tobacco retailers compared to tax increases. A spokesperson for Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the mayor plans to sign the bill. The vape price hike will take effect immediately after the mayor signs it, and the tobacco store siting restrictions go into effect Aug. 1.
