ANSR, youth advocates ask St. Paul to raise minimum prices on cigarettes, vapes and nicotine pouches

The Association for Nonsmokers Minnesota (ANSR) told the Policy Committee that inflation and new nicotine products require updates to St. Paul's minimum pricing ordinance. Ginny Wigham, who identified herself as representing the association, reviewed the city's history of tobacco regulation and proposed three price changes: a $15 minimum on cigarettes, a $25 minimum for vapes (the Minneapolis model) and a $1‑per‑pouch minimum for nicotine pouches to normalize price regardless of container size. "We're proposing a minimum price of a dollar per pouch," Wigham said.

Youth advocates from 'WE tv' (WASH Escapes the Vape) described outreach and evidence of youth use. Shirley, speaking as a constituent and youth leader, told the committee her group collected 109 postcards of community input and urged the council to act. "This is a small act with great benefits," Shirley said, arguing that higher price points reduce youth initiation and make nicotine products less accessible. Presenters and councilmembers discussed pairing price changes with school‑based education and model ordinance language that includes an inflation indexing provision used in Minneapolis.