Menthol Ban Would Cost Retailers $73 Million

Proposed ban in Minneapolis would strip c-stores from selling menthol cigarettes.

June 29, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS – The Minneapolis City Council passed a ban on flavored tobacco products in convenience stores in 2015, and now the council wants to go after menthol.

Ward 2 City Councilman Cam Gordon is proposing amending the existing city ordinance that would add menthol and mint-flavored tobacco products to the list of flavored products that can only be sold at tobacco shops, reports CBS Minnesota.

Some convenience store owners are not happy with his efforts.

One local c-store operator said the council is circumventing his business to tobacco shops, noting that a loss in menthol sales would cost him his business.

“We’re going to have to shut it down,” he said. “Menthol cigarettes are [more than] 70% of our sales in the store. We cannot survive without them.”

According to the National Association of Tobacco Outlets, the amended ordinance would cost Minneapolis retailers about $73 million per year in sales if enacted.

The news source reports that an industry meeting with lobbyists and convenience store owners will be set up soon, and that the first public hearing on the proposed ordinance will take place on July 24 at 1:30 pm.

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