While the overall smoking rate in Minnesota has dramatically decreased, certain communities, such as communities of color, American Indians, immigrants and refugees, LGBTQ community members, and people with mental illness and substance use disorders have much higher rates of commercial tobacco use, leading to disparities in secondhand smoke exposure and risk for and incidence of smoking related-disease and death. These health inequities stem from cultural/social norms around commercial tobacco use; the targeting of these communities by the tobacco industry through misinformation and predatory marketing tactics; and lack of funding for tobacco prevention efforts—especially for those that utilize effective, culturally specific approaches. The Communities Eliminating Tobacco Inequities (CETI) initiative aimed to reduce commercial tobacco use in communities by supporting community-driven, culturally specific efforts that raise awareness, shift cultural/social norms and/or influence organizational and local public policy.
Read the evaluation report here. (Download)
- American Lung Association — promotion of tobacco cessation in behavioral health settings. WATCH VIDEO
- Briva Health — creation of culturally relevant messages for the Somali community to increase awareness about the dangers associated with tobacco use. WATCH VIDEO
- Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio (CLUES) —linguistically and culturally relevant resources to connect with Latino community members on the dangers of tobacco use and secondhand smoke. WATCH VIDEO
- Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota — aiming to change the cultural and social norms around smoking in the Lao community. WATCH VIDEO
- Lincoln Park Children and Families Collaborative —working with local businesses and organizations to create more commercially tobacco-free places in Duluth. WATCH VIDEO
- Lower Sioux Indian Community — an educational campaign differentiating commercial and traditional tobacco and other efforts. WATCH VIDEO
- NorthPoint Health and Wellness — the successful passage of tobacco-free policy in Minneapolis parks. WATCH VIDEO
- WellShare International — a collaborative with the Karen Organization of Minnesota (KOM) to build momentum and support for policy and environmental changes around use of tobacco WATCH VIDEO