North Mankato, Minn. Amends Tobacco Purchase Age Increase, Will Raise to 21

The ongoing saga of whether or not a pair of cities in Minneapolis will raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21-years-old took yet another interesting turn on Monday, as the North Mankato City Council amended the increase it passed in February to that it will go into effect regardless of whether or not Mankato passed their version.

In that original ordinance, the implementation of the increase was to be contingent on Mankato passing a similar ban; until that point, the city would not publish the ordinance in the local newspaper, thus not starting the clock for the ordinance to go into effect. This directive came from Mayor Mark Dehen.

However, the council decided to move forward on its own, removing the contingency and placing an effective date of Jan. 1, 2019 into the ordinance. The delayed start is being seen as a way to give retailers to prepare for the change as well as to continue the discussions with Mankato in hopes of getting that city’s council to support the increase.

North Mankato is home to approximately 17,000 residents and is located 80 miles southwest of Minneapolis.

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.