Denver's voters will weigh in this year on a law passed by city council to end the sale of flavored tobacco. It went into effect March 18.
A pair of groups, led by vape shops, gathered more than 17,000 signatures to put a repeal to voters. The clerk's office said this week nearly 11,000 were valid. That’s enough to place the measure on the ballot this year.
The city council will decide whether to put it on the November ballot or call a special session at a different date.
It sets up the next chapter in a long-running fight between tobacco reformers and businesses that sell vaporizers and other flavored nicotine products. Reformers say that products with fruity flavors can lure kids into lifelong addictions, while the industry says adults should have the freedom to buy products they enjoy.
Backers of Denver’s new law said they would campaign to keep it on the books.
“Once again, Big Tobacco is up to their old tricks,’ said Jodi Radke of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, in a press release from a coalition of community groups that back the law. “But let’s be clear on the stakes here. If Big Tobacco overturns this law, more kids in Denver will get hooked on tobacco – then develop a lifelong addiction and ultimately die from the consequences. That is the reality.”
In December the city council voted 11-1 to pass a law to ban the sale of most flavored nicotine products within city limits. It was signed by Mayor Mike Johnston.
“Despite the public health harms, vape shops are continuing their expensive effort to ask voters to roll back Denver law and allow flavored tobacco products back in their stores,” Council member Darrell Watson said in the statement. “We will not go back. We will continue to protect Denver families.”
Backers of the repeal said they are just advocates for developing what they see as responsible regulations.
“We have had a lot of support from voters that agree with our stance, that the youth should not have access to nicotine products, but the ban that was passed does not address how young people are getting these products and it limits the ability for adults to have a much better choice than smoking cigarettes,” said Phil Guerin, who owns the vape shop Myxed Up Creations, on Colfax Ave. in Denver. “We really need everyone to understand that we are not ‘big tobacco.’ We are the David in this David and Goliath campaign.”
Previous fights have seen smaller local interests and state and national players sides get involved on both sides. The battle over the flavor ban last fall involved a major ad blitz, plus intense lobbying by some of Colorado’s most well-known lobbyists and firms.
Both sides said they’re confident voters will back them. Backers of the repeal have described the push as part of a larger critique of city policies.
“Where are Denver’s priorities? Homelessness, crime, and cost of living are on the minds of Denver voters. The City of Denver has real issues to address. Banning adult products is not one of them,” Kristen Hensel, owner of Rusty’s Vape in Denver, said in a statement when opponents of the ban submitted the signatures in March
The Rocky Mountain Smoke Free Alliance and a group called "Citizen Power!" collected and filed the signatures.
Besides Denver, eight other Colorado cities have approved measures to prohibit or restrict flavored tobacco products: Aspen, Boulder, Carbondale, Dillon, Edgewater, Glenwood Springs, Golden and Snowmass Village. Towns in Summit County also are considering similar steps, according to KUNC.
Nationwide, nearly 400 municipalities and six states have flavored tobacco restrictions, according to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C.
Colorado had the nation’s highest rate of vaping among young people in 2018, as the trend took off. That was twice the national average. It dropped considerably in recent years after a multifaceted effort that included raising the purchase age to 21. But many who get hooked on vapor products struggle to stop and often turn to cigarettes.
All this is happening as the Trump administration is remaking the nation’s regulatory agencies. The Food and Drug Administration’s chief tobacco regulator was removed from his job earlier this month. Meanwhile, as top health agency leaders, who oversee things like drugs, food, vaccines and nicotine-containing products, got notices they were being dismissed.
