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What can we do to stop the tobacco industry <br />from harming our communities with menthol <br />tobacco? <br />Minnesota communities have the authority to regulate the sale <br />of menthol tobacco products, which will help protect youth <br />from a lifetime of addiction. Minneapolis and Saint Paul <br />already prohibit the sale of fruit and candy-flavored tobacco <br />products in any store that allows children to enter. The same <br />needs to be done for menthol. <br />Brands such as Salem and Newport would give out <br />free packs of menthol cigarettes from vans. <br />Tobacco industry documents show these vans <br />targeted young, lower-income, black smokers at <br />“retail outlets, currency exchanges/check cashing <br />stations, public aid offices, large housing <br />complexes, shopping malls, rapid transit locations, <br />busy street corners, and nightclubs/bars.” <br />— RJ Reynolds, 1989 <br />Tobacco companies <br />began heavily <br />targeting African <br />Americans with <br />menthol cigarettes <br />in the 1960s. <br />TAKE <br />ACTION <br />Join us at: <br />BeautifulLieUglyTruth.org <br />“…the base of our business is the high school student.” <br />— Lorillard (Makers of Newport), 1978 <br />AND NOW, A <br />MESSAGE FROM <br />TOBACCO <br />EXECUTIVES <br />INDUSTRY <br />MANIPULATION: <br />The tobacco industry has a long history of targeting the African American <br />community, women, LGBTQ, and youth with menthol tobacco marketing. <br />“We don’t smoke that s***. We <br />just sell it. We reserve the right <br />to smoke for the young, the <br />poor, the black and stupid.” <br />— RJ Reynolds Executive, 1971 <br />References available at: <br />BeautifulLieUglyTruth.org <br />(July 2016)