Minneapolis City Council hikes price of e-cigarettes to $25 minimum

Cheap e-cigarettes are out in Minneapolis. The City Council on Thursday decided that no device can be sold for less than $25 per unit.

“In my personal experience as a Zillennial,” said Council Member Aurin Chowdhury, “we were set to be the generation to end smoking. And when Juul became available in all of its pretty flavors and hyper affordability, that changed.”

According to pricing data gathered from an audit of 38 tobacco shops in Minneapolis last summer, single disposable e-cigarettes ranged from about $8.99 to $30. The new ordinance would be a nearly $8 increase from the average minimum price, according to a city staff analysis.

Raising prices is meant to deter youth vaping. It’s following on the heels of sweeping new anti-smoking laws that the council passed last year, including ending tobacco coupons and setting the minimum price of regular cigarettes at $15 a pack — then the highest government-mandated price in the nation.

Young people are more price-sensitive, said Evalyn Carbrey, a senior public health specialist with the city. When the price of cigarettes goes up by 10%, adult use decreases by 3% to 5% while youth use decreases by 6% to 7%, she said.

“It is far more effective to lower tobacco-related deaths if we prevent youth from ever starting to use them,” Carbrey said. “In 2024, the Minneapolis City Council took significant steps in commercial tobacco control. ... While these changes were significant, they did not address the price of e-cigarettes or vapes, which are primarily consumed by youth and young adults.”

According to state and county tobacco surveys, about 14% of young adults (under 25) are vaping, compared to just 2% of adults aged 45-64.

Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw, a longtime anti-smoking advocate, acknowledged younger council members for picking up the fight on e-cigarettes.

“You know, the work was always around cigarettes, and then the tobacco industry, as they do, just kind of swooped in and made e-cigarettes and vaped devices huge,” she said. “And so this is part of the work that helps to keep our young people from smoking.”

Changes to the city’s tobacco laws approved Thursday would also establish a minimum distance of 300 feet that tobacco shops must be from K-12 schools. Minneapolis regulated how close cannabis and liquor stores could be from schools, but not regular tobacco shops.

And on a push from Council Member Katie Cashman, who represents downtown Minneapolis neighborhoods, the city will also close the loophole that exempted downtown from regulations that said tobacco stores had to be at least 2,000 feet away from each other.

“We shouldn’t be exempted from the spacing requirements, as if this is a purely commercial area where tobacco should be able to be sold anywhere,” said Cashman at a prior meeting about the law changes. “Tobacco stores are not only selling an unhealthy product, but also causing some other social problems in the neighborhood, with dealing and other activities.”

Existing tobacco shops can have their licenses renewed without regard to the new distance limitations.

If signed by the mayor, the price hike will be immediate. Changes to distance regulations will take effect in August.