Table 2.

Themes of Successful Menthol Policy Advocacy and Implementation, Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth, MN

Theme	Sample quote
1. Respect local context.	We thought about adding menthol to [flavors ordinance], but we hadn't really done the community engagement around that … like we were on the verge of passing the flavor piece, so we didn't want to slow that down, and we didn't want to add it because we hadn't done the proper engagement. So, in retrospect I don't think we could have done it differently because of that. The community right now and most of the communities that are looking at it are looking at the whole package because now the precedence has been set, that it's possible.
2. Build knowledge and capacity.	We had a dynamic speaker…who came and spoke at great length about how our communities, communities of color, were targeted with these ads. It was amazing that I actually, growing up with Jet and Ebony magazine in our household, could immediately remember those ads.
	I think the fact that we spent 3 years educating the community and engaging the community, especially those impacted, led to a very diverse coalition.
3. Develop education campaigns with community.	We really tried to be very conscious of developing materials, really including people…bringing everybody into the decision-making body.
	We spent quite a lot of time getting materials right. We felt that was really important. We talked to a lot of people. We showed people the concept…We had a good group of people who could give us honest feedback.
4. Campaigns led by impacted communities.	The thing that persuaded me was advocacy for people within the most affected communities. That's what really convinced me, because I tend to be somewhat skeptical of people who advocate on other people's behalf. I'm much more persuaded by people who advocate on their own behalf. So, when it was people from within our local African American community, our local Indigenous community, our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender [Queer] community, which are the targeted communities coming forth on their own, basically saying, ‘We are asking you to protect our kids from the use of this product.’ That's what persuaded me. It wasn't just public health professionals.
5. Address racial inequities head on.	Race was a big issue with menthol because everybody knows that African Americans choose menthol over other flavors. So, it was a conversation you had to have. I would say to people, make sure that the [council] room is not filled with white advocates because elected officials are aware of what communities are going to be most impacted by reduction of sales [of menthol] and they don't want the backlash. I walked in the room talking about it. That was the conversation I wanted to have with people. I'm Black. It's firsthand information coming from me.
6. Frame the issue #1: restrictions focus on sellers, not tobacco users.	People would often ask,‘Are you trying to regulate what adults do? This doesn't seem right.’ And so, then we said, well, no…We want adults who are addicted to have access to the products. We know they're addicted. And they need to figure out how to quit if they can…This is really about the next generation of young people, particularly people of color. Let's not have another generation of people addicted to these products.
7. Frame the issue #2: “people over profits.”
	If you are also talking about [retailers'] talking points, that is the message that gets across, and not the message you want to get across. And so, what I thought advocates that I saw showing up time and time again for this particular issue do effectively was, not to actually talk about the money piece of it, and actually talk about how it was impacting people's lives.
	Let me share with you what this black woman lost. And I told them to look at [my] poster. It was my mother, three aunts, and others…I said, for me, black lives matter, but apparently to you, black lives don't matter. And I know you're tired of hearing black lives don't matter, but you're going to continue to hear about black lives matter until black lives matter!
8. Anticipate and counter tobacco industry tactics.	If I had any doubt that this policy would reduce nicotine addiction…it was completely resolved by the amount of money and effort the tobacco companies were spending to kill it.
9. No surprises: preparation and training.	The advocates provided really helpful information and research…and figured out what mattered most to individual elected officials.
10. Sustain advocacy to maintain city council support.	They've gone and testified against these store owners who want to quit. I think it's important that you don't just shut the lights off after it passes and go away. There can still be policy issues that come up and you don't want the council to say hey, let's just get rid of this whole thing. You know? So yeah, prepare for opposition and keep your coalition engaged through implementation because you'll probably need them.
11. Collaborate with city staff.	Having [an advocacy organization] as a partner is very beneficial. Anytime government can collaborate with a group that's supportive of something, we're always gonna be more effective. The fact it's community-based also is very beneficial. In terms of when regulations are being proposed, the coalition, they're doing the education with the council and things like that. Once again, government works the best when the community is at the table.
12. Campaigns should be managed by a lead agency with demonstrated cultural competency and strong community organizing and policy capacity.	We have a problem in our communities sometimes where white people actually wanna lead an initiative for people of color. It doesn't work.. . This movement felt like the allies were in complete support, and used their resources to help, but it was the community that was in charge.
	So, I'm saying in short there were a bunch of quality people who behaved out of ethical principles, who kept the prize in sight. Who did not misuse people in their organizing.”