Hennepin County, Minn. Raises Tobacco Purchase Age to 21

Minnesota continues to be a hotbed of municipalities raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21-years-old, as on Tuesday the Hennepin County Commissioners approved a proposal that will see the state’s most populous county join the Tobacco 21 movement on Jan. 1, 2020.

In addition, the commissioners approved a restriction on the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol, and will limit them to tobacco retailers who only allow adults aged 21 and older to enter. It also establishes a minimum price of three dollars for any cigar.

The increase only applies to unincorporated areas in the county where cities do not currently regulate the laws, though it will apply to the municipalities of Greenfield, Mound, Rockford, Rogers and St. Bonifacius, as well as within the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. The county says that there are approximately 34 licenses per year to sell tobacco in these places.

Hennepin County is home to approximately 1.252 million people, and includes the cities of Minneapolis, Edina and Bloomington.

Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, the G-League's Valley Suns, and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.