ADVISORY: TODAY AT 3PM: Minnesota Students, Educators to Call on Lawmakers to Act this Year on Flavored Tobacco

ST. PAUL, Minn., March 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — TODAY at 3:00 p.m. Central, high school students and educators will hold a virtual news conference to call on Minnesota lawmakers to act this year to end all flavored tobacco sales. While students and schools continue to battle youth tobacco use and its related health harms and disruptions, progress has stalled on the bill (SF2123/HF2177) to end the sale of menthol and all flavored tobacco products in Minnesota. Last week, around 250 youth, parents and advocates from around the state joined Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation’s Day at the Capitol and urged Minnesota lawmakers to act swiftly and end flavored tobacco sales.

The bill to end the sale of all flavored tobacco products (including menthol cigarettes, flavored cigars, e-cigarettes, hookah and smokeless tobacco) will prevent youth addiction and improve health for all Minnesota residents. This is the fourth year a flavored tobacco sales bill has been in play at the Capitol and meanwhile, flavors continue to drive youth tobacco use. The students and school staff will share how youth commercial tobacco use – including youth vaping – remains a huge problem in Minnesota schools. Doctors and health experts caution that commercial tobacco use sets kids up for a lifetime of nicotine addiction and serious health conditions like heart disease and cancer.

About Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation:
Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation is a coalition of more than 50 organizations that share a common goal of advancing justice by striving toward a future where every person is free from commercial tobacco’s harms and can reach their full health potential.

Partners include: A Breath of Hope Lung Foundation, Advocates for Better Health, Allina Health, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association in Minnesota, Association for Nonsmokers – Minnesota, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, Cancer Legal Care, CentraCare, Children’s Minnesota, Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio – CLUES, Dodge County Public Health, Essentia Health, Eugene Nichols, Faribault Martin & Watonwan Co SHIP, Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare, HealthPartners, Hennepin County Public Health, Hennepin Healthcare, Horizon Public Health, Indigenous Peoples Task Force, Lincoln Park Children and Families Collaborative, Local Public Health Association of Minnesota, Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Mayo Clinic, Medica, Meeker McLeod Sibley Community Health Services, MHA – Minnesota Hospital Association, Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians, Minnesota Association of Community Health Centers, Minnesota Cancer Alliance, Minnesota Council of Health Plans, Minnesota Dental Association, Minnesota Medical Association, Minnesota Public Health Association, Minnesota Society for Public Health Education, Minnesota Youth Council, MNAAP – Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Mowery Communications, LLC, NAMI Minnesota, NorthPoint Health & Wellness, Olmsted Medical Center, Parents Against Vaping e-cigarettes, PartnerSHIP 4 Health, Perham Health, Public Health Law Center, Rainbow Health, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, Steele County Public Health, Tobacco-Free Alliance, UCare, WellShare International, Winona County Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention.

SOURCE Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation