Tobacco Prevention and Control Initiatives

Tobacco use is still the single greatest preventable cause of death and disease in Minnesota. However, our communities are working in a variety of ways to reduce tobacco’s harm.

• Eliminating tobacco-related health disparities
• Keeping youth and young adults from starting
• Reducing exposure to secondhand smoke
• Helping people quit

Commercial Tobacco-Free Communities Grant Program

Now open: Request for Proposals for Commercial Tobacco-Free Communities Grant Program

The Minnesota Department of Health requests proposals to create community-driven changes to policies, practices, systems, and environments to reduce commercial tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure among populations experiencing commercial tobacco-related disparities.

The purpose of this Request for Proposals is to fund projects that create community-driven and culturally responsive strategies that work to change community norms related to harmful commercial tobacco, and that result in sustainable changes.

Learn More: Request for Proposals for Commercial Tobacco-Free Communities Grant Program

Youth E-cigarette Prevention and Cessation

The 2021 Minnesota Legislature appropriated funds for the Minnesota Department of Health to administer a new initiative to address youth e-cigarette and other commercial tobacco product use and cessation. The initiative includes community grants, statewide technical assistance and training, coordinated counter-marketing campaign, and surveillance and evaluation. The overall goal of this initiative is to reduce youth e-cigarette and commercial tobacco use in Minnesota by 25 percent by 2026.

Quit Partner™ Ambassadors

The Quit Partner Ambassadors Grant Program funds local community organizations to increase awareness and knowledge of Quit Partner programs in communities that are disproportionally impacted by commercial tobacco and may have been targeted by the tobacco industry.

Learn more: Quit Partner Ambassadors Grant Program

More Grant Programs

We provide grants to local public health agencies, community organizations, and tribal governments to help reduce the burden of tobacco within their own communities. Grantees work toward tobacco-free environments like smoke-free multi-unit housing, as well as reducing youth access to tobacco.

• Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP)
• Tobacco-Free Communities Grant Program (TFC)
• Tribal SHIP and Tribal Tobacco Grants

2015 Menthol Cigarette Intervention Grant

Menthol tobacco use is particularly common in the African American community. Nearly nine in ten African American smokers age 12 and older use menthol. In 2015, the Minnesota Department of Health awarded a two-year grant to Hennepin County, Saint Paul-Ramsey, Bloomington-Edina-Richfield, and Minneapolis Health Departments to better understand menthol tobacco use in the African American community. Local public health formed a close partnership with the African American Leadership Forum to engage the African American community on menthol through assessment and education.

Learn more about the 2015 Menthol Cigarette Intervention Grant.

Minnesota Comprehensive Tobacco Control Framework, 2016-2021

Although the state’s overall smoking rates are below national averages, certain Minnesota communities are still at risk and suffer disproportionately from tobacco-related death and disease.

The Minnesota Comprehensive Tobacco Control Framework 2016-2021 lays out an ambitious path to address tobacco use. With the vision of striving for a Minnesota where all people are free from the harms of tobacco as its foundation, the Framework delivers to health care providers, policymakers, the public health community and other stakeholders a set of six goals consistent with the priorities established by the CDC and 17 bold steps in working toward these goals.

Read the Framework: Minnesota Comprehensive Tobacco Control Framework, 2016-2021 (PDF)

Community Voices: Reducing Tobacco-Related Health Inequities

We conducted a statewide community input process to address the disproportionately higher rates of commercial tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure among many of our communities.

Read more about Community Voices: Reducing Tobacco-Related Health Inequities:

• Executive Summary (PDF)
• Full report (PDF)

Additional Resources

• Tobacco Use Prevention: 2021 Report to the Minnesota Legislature (PDF)
• Minnesota Tobacco Substance Reporting
• 2014 Surgeon General's Report: The Health Consequences of Smoking - 50 Years of Progress
• Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs - 2014
• Tracking Tobacco Laws - A Minnesota Digest, 2016 (PDF) (Public Health Law Center)

Closed requests for proposals

• 2021: Request for Proposals for Technical Assistance and Training Grant (PDF)
• 2021: Request for Proposals for Community Grants (PDF)
• 2021: Request for Proposals for Quit Partner™ Ambassadors (PDF)
• 2020: Community-Driven Approaches to Eliminate the Harms of Commercial Tobacco (PDF)
• 2019: Cessation Services (PDF)
• 2019: Cessation Marketing Services (PDF)
  • Strategic Assignment Scoping Document (PDF)
• 2016: Tobacco-Free Communities Grant Program (PDF)
• 2016: Tobacco-Free Communities Grant Program: Capacity Building Technical Assistance and Training (PDF)