Minneapolis Home to the Highest Cigarette Prices in America

In the late 1990’s, things began to change in America, restaurants and other public places that used to be split into smoking and non-smoking sections began to phase out their smoking areas.  

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Places like hospitals and schools began to ban smoking within so many feet of their entrances and doors.  

Once I became non-smoker in 2004, I became Thankful for these changes, because once you stop smoking for a while, it’s difficult to be around it. For some former smokers it’s because there's a desire to smoke again. For my wife and I it was because we couldn’t stand to smell it. 

As the years have gone by, smokers' rights have become more and more restricted for sure. And this week the “tight reigns” became more restrictive in Minneapolis when the City Council voted to increase the minimum cost of a pack of cigarettes to fifteen dollars.  

In addition to cigarettes, other commercial tobacco products will be increased to that amount too.  

The reason behind this new policy is to make it harder for people to smoke, especially younger people. This move is to try and thwart what is called intentional targeting by cigarette manufacturers to people of color and those in low-income brackets.  

This intentional targeting is said to be done by offering discounted prices and coupons which will no longer be allowed to be used in Minneapolis.  

Smokers and those in businesses who sell cigarettes say this will not detour most smokers, they’ll just have to buy their “smokes” elsewhere.  

Stores in Minneapolis who are caught in violation will face heftier fines than before.