St. Paul is considering setting a new minimum price of $15 for a pack of cigarettes, a move that would bring the city in line with a policy already in place across the river in Minneapolis. The proposal under discussion would establish a per-pack price floor.
The idea was reported by FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul, which noted that the proposed $15 minimum mirrors the cigarette pricing policy already in place in Minneapolis. St. Paul is no stranger to this kind of regulation. The city council unanimously enacted a sweeping tobacco ordinance back in November 2021 that established a $10 minimum price floor per pack of cigarettes and standard cans of moist snuff, while also prohibiting coupon redemptions and price discounting on all commercial tobacco and vaping products, according to Counter Tobacco. That 2021 measure combined a price floor with an e-cigarette discount prohibition.
Minneapolis Set the $15 Benchmark in 2024
Minneapolis got there first. The city council there unanimously passed an ordinance in April 2024 setting a $15 minimum retail price floor for packs of cigarettes, four or more cigars, and certain-size snuff or snus packages, per MPR News. The move created one of the highest government-mandated price floors for cigarettes anywhere in the country, the outlet reported.
Under these kinds of municipal price-floor regulations, the mechanism works differently than a tax. Mandatory price floors are not city taxes, meaning retail store owners retain the additional revenue generated above wholesale costs, as CBS News has reported. In Minneapolis, a public-health specialist has said that extra money could help stores cushion business disruptions.
The Health Data Behind the Push
Public health research has found that higher tobacco prices reduce demand. Pricing controls are considered by health advocates to be tools for reducing tobacco use…