Denver may ban flavored tobacco and vaping products within the city limits.
DENVER, Colo. — The largest city in Colorado, Denver, could be one of the largest jurisdictions in the region to ban such products.
Denver City Council was set to vote on the proposal. However, the Denver Gazette reports that the council has postponed the vote on the prohibition ordinance to the end of the month after nearly two hours of debate by the council’s Safety Committee.
The ban would apply to all flavored tobacco and nicotine products sold in all retailers within the city. Harm reduction tools are only exempted under the ordinance, per Food and Drug Administration regulations.
Unfortunately, per the PMTA framework, electronic cigarettes en masse have been eliminated from the market. Juul devices, for instance, remain exempt because the FDA has yet to issue a ruling on their legal status as approved products.
Under the council’s prohibition proposal, flavored hookah products, menthol cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and also cigars (all flavored) are also denied point of sale within city limits. Vaping, of course, is the main target of the proposal, and tobacco control groups are expected to support the legislation.
“Vaping, particularly youth vaping, is a public health crisis in Denver, across the state and across the country,” says Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer. Sawyer is co-sponsoring the proposed ordinance with Councilwoman Debbie Ortega.
“The ban is specific to flavors because it is the thing that kids identify as what drew them to smoking in the first place, and the goal here is to get kids not to smoke in the first place,” Sawyer said, via reporting on the proposal by Westword magazine.
According to the magazine, the proposal builds off years of fighting against flavored tobacco products by organizations like the Colorado chapter of the American Heart Association and the controversial Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
