Tobacco Law

The Public Health Law Center’s tobacco control attorneys serve as the preeminent legal resource on tobacco law in Minnesota.  Since 2000, our staff has worked to improve tobacco control laws and policies in Minnesota by providing legal technical assistance on a wide range of issues to local communities and health leaders throughout the state. 

Our attorneys wrote Minnesota’s statewide smoke-free law, the Freedom to Breathe Act, and dozens of Minnesota’s local smoke-free ordinances, as well as tobacco tax and product regulation policies, Minnesota’s youth access to tobacco law, and Minnesota’s definitive digest of state and federal tobacco-related laws and regulations. Our WorkSHIFTS program works in partnership with labor unions to heighten awareness among workers, labor leaders, and management on issues of tobacco and health.

Our other initiatives include policy analysis on smoke-free multi-unit dwellings and campuses, legal research and monitoring of retail and Internet tobacco sales and marketing, and policy analyses of tobacco industry documents and youth access enforcement patterns.

Major Funders

• American Lung Association
• Association for Nonsmokers-Minnesota
• BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota
• Carlton-Cook-Lake-St. Louis Community Health Board
• ClearWay Minnesota
• Cottonwood Jackson Community Health

Partners

• Americans for Nonsmokers Rights
• Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
• Tobacco Technical Assistance Consortium