Smokers in Minneapolis will pay some of the highest cigarette prices in the country after the City Council voted unanimously on Thursday to impose a minimum retail price of $15 per pack, reported AP News.
The ordinance not only sets a floor price—it prevents smokers and retailers from getting around it by prohibiting price discounts and coupons, said AP News. In addition, the changes also set minimum prices for cigars, pipe tobacco and chewing tobacco.
Minneapolis is moving towards the highest government-mandated minimum price for cigarettes in the nation. And, that's no small thing, said The Star Tribune. The highest retail prices in the city are already reaching $13.50.
According to the Tribune, the $15 minimum—at least $15.74 after state taxes—would be a new high, surpassing the $10-per-pack minimum enacted by St. Paul in 2021 and New York City's $13 minimum, although actual prices are often higher in high-cost cities like New York and Chicago.
A four-pack of cigars and a tin of chewing tobacco would also cost $15.
The extra money would not be a tax, but simply a mandatory minimum price. The retailer would keep the extra money. The reasoning, officials have said, is that the extra money could soften the blow from any decrease in sales for retailers.
According to the Tribune, the new mandatory minimum price does not affect vaping, lozenges, gum and other ways of taking nicotine without tobacco, but noted that a number of council members said they want to take on e-cigarettes in the future.
Read “Cigarettes Are Still Powering Sales” from the December issue of NACS Magazine.