Minnesota Tobacco Trial Minnesota's lawsuit against Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson and Lorillard reached a landmark settlement in May 1998. Click hereto view the complaint, settlement, consent judgement and other key court documents.
Preventing Youth Smoking Youth smoking prevention works. Yet Minnesota has twice eliminated effective prevention initiatives to save money. With tobacco costing the state $2.6 billion every year, cutting successful youth smoking prevention programs will cost the state more in the long run.
Why Fund Prevention? Youth smoking prevention efforts pay off in saved lives and saved money.
Effective Tobacco Control Find out what Minnesota is and isn't doing to reduce smoking and save lives.
Legislative Update Gov. Tim Pawlenty and state legislators dealt a devastating blow to Minnesota's youth tobacco prevention efforts. As a result, not one penny of the state's $6 billion tobacco settlement is being used to prevent kids from smoking.
The state health department's report to the legislature is available online. It covers 2003 (the year before the endowment that funded youth smoking prevention was eliminated) and 2004 (when youth prevention funding at the department suffered about an 85 percent cut). Click here to link to the report, or contact Carol Ault for a hardcopy of the report at carol.ault@health.state.mn.us. For a hardcopy, provide your mailing address and phone number.
Teen Smoking Risk Rises
The number of Minnesota kids at risk to start smoking has risen since the governor and state legislature eliminated the effective anti-tobacco marketing campaign Target Market. A study found that the number of teens saying they are likely to start smoking jumped 10 percent just 6 months after the state killed the smoking prevention campaign. Click here to read about the study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
