It’s a Tuesday morning on East Colfax and there’s a rally outside a shop called Myxed Up Creations, which sells vapes, pipes and flavored tobacco products. About a dozen people are waving signs urging Denver voters to vote no on Referendum 310. The organizers of the rally want to repeal the ban on sales of flavored tobacco products.
They say a no vote will save jobs and keep millions of dollars in tax money in the city’s coffers, arguing it comes down to a matter of personal choice for adults — even if vaporizer flavors like strawberry, pink lemonade and menthol seem likely to appeal to youth.
“Adults have rights too. Yep. And this is one of the rights they're trying to take away. And we all have rights. Adults like cotton candy, adults like flavored vapes. We all like a little bit of flavor,” said Kyle Manibusan, an assistant manager at Myxed Up Creations.
The Denver City Council banned the sales in December and Mayor Mike Johnston signed it into law. Council President Amanda Sandoval shared her story about tobacco and nicotine’s impact on generations of her family and is fighting to keep the ban now.
Opponents early this year started a petition drive to challenge the ban and successfully gathered nearly 11,000 valid signatures, enough to put the repeal on the ballot this year. A no vote on Referendum 310 would repeal the ban; yes would keep the ban in place.
Manibusan has worked in a vape shop for the last four years, and he said he believes in the products because they helped him quit cigarettes — menthol Marlboros, which he thinks are worse.
“Vaping is not tobacco, it is nicotine. It is a lot healthier and a lot healthier a choice to go ahead and consume,” Manibusan said.
The health impacts of vaping are much debated, including research showing it often leads to co-use, vaping and smoking. But the store's manager, Rae Drennan, said vaping helped her quit smoking too.
“The sad part about it is if we don't win, I don't know what I would do because I like flavored vape and that's what helped me get off of menthol cigarettes,” said Drennan, who features prominently in a campaign ad on Facebook.
She said she's the mom of a pair of teenagers and that the shop and others diligently check IDs to prevent sales to minors.
“Even if you come in here and you want to buy a water, I still need to see your ID to show that you are at least 18 or older to enter the property,” Drennan said. “And then if you want to buy anything that has tobacco or nicotine related products, you do have to be 21.”
Awaiting the vote
Across Denver, about 600 businesses, including gas stations, convenience and grocery stores, have tobacco licenses, with perhaps a quarter being vape shops.
Drennan says each store has an economic impact that would be hard to replace.
“If we lose, then we're losing a bunch of money that we help put into the communities," she said.
Her boss, Phil Guerin, owns this shop on Colfax and four other Colorado locations. He's been leading the charge to defeat the flavor ban and was rallying with his employees.
“I'm feeling really confident,” he said. “We are out today. This is a grassroots effort and we have more energy than ever.”
Guerin thinks by persuading libertarian-minded voters, including those who lean left, his side can prevail.
“These are the same people that legalized gay marriage. These are the same people that legalized marijuana. And so we're really tapping into that libertarian streak that Denver really does have,” he said.
Guerin admits he's worried about the future of his store and its four employees if the ban passes.
The repeal campaign — called “Citizen Power!” — estimates that keeping the flavor ban could cost the city almost $10 million in sales tax revenue, as well as about $2 million in early childhood education funds that come from nicotine sales. The repeal group also claims the city will lose almost $3 million in property taxes and licensing fees as businesses fail.
The other side disputes those figures as overstated and argues money lost to the city is far outpaced by long-term health costs from nicotine borne by consumers and health systems.
Opponents of the flavor ban also include multinational tobacco manufacturers. The repeal campaign received $75,000 so far from both the tobacco giant Altria and from Philip Morris International (PMI).
On the other side, the campaign in support of the flavor ban has received millions from former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg on the yes side, giving it a 6-1 edge on the eve of election. The billionaire and philanthropist has given more than $2.7 million to the "Denver Kids versus Big Tobacco" campaign, according to filings with the city. Its ads have been running frequently on TV for weeks.
“We don't have millions of dollars like Michael Bloomberg to throw at it, so it's definitely more a word-of-the-mouth type of deal,” Guerin said. “We hand out flyers, we educate our customers that come in and let them know that, you know, without them choosing, we could lose our right. And every vote counts.”
Businesses at stake
In the northwest part of the city, Rami Sawaged owns and operates a warehouse called CA Wholesale. He sells vape products to more than 100 of the city's roughly 150 shops, he said. Many are small stores, and their owners are telling him they could go under if the ban goes into effect.
“One of their biggest comments was, 'I can't just pick up a 10-year business that I can go move it to Aurora or Lakewood...It's not that easy. I have a customer base. We have our customers, we want to keep them,’” said Sawaged, who has given more than $40,000 to the Citizen Power! campaign, according to filings with the city clerk’s office. .
Sawaged said he and his family immigrated to the U.S. when he was 14, from Jordan, where everyone smokes.
He said vaping helped his whole family quit. He predicts he could lose more than a third of his business, hundreds of thousands in annual revenue, if the ban passes, and he said the city would lose money too.
“I just think Denver still needs this money. The businesses that are located in Denver, they're mom-and-pop shops. They're trying to make a living,” Sawaged said.
Denver voters have until 7 p.m. Tuesday, Election Day, to return their ballots.
