Minnesota Anti-Smoking Targets E-Cigarettes, Tobacco Strips

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Anti-smoking advocates in Minnesota are holding a rally at the State Capitol on Wednesday pushing for a ban on the sale of cigarette and tobacco alternatives to youth.

Advocates including ClearWay Minnesota and the American Heart Association say Minnesota's tobacco laws haven't kept up as cigarette companies develop new products.

The groups are going after tobacco strips that dissolve in the mouth and battery-operated e-cigarettes that deliver puffs of nicotine vapor.

A bill from Sen. Scott Dibble (DFL-Minneapolis) would prohibit retailers from selling the products to minors. They also couldn't display the products next to candy or gum, and "little cigars" would be classified as cigarettes and regulated more stringently.

Dibble's bill gets its first hearing Thursday.