Denver City Council Going for Flavor Ban … Again

A trio of Denver City Council members is proposing a ban on the sale of all flavored tobacco products in the Colorado capitol.

The effort comes three years after then-Mayor Michael Hancock vetoed a similar ban, following months of debate and intense lobbying on both sides of the issue, including from tobacco industry interests. A different lineup of council members crafted that measure.

“We think this is important because it’s a public health issue impacting our community,” Councilman Darrell Watson said on Monday after a committee hearing that previewed the proposal. He had helped lay out the specifics of the proposed ban, which — like its predecessor — would outlaw the sale of flavored vaping cartridges and a wide swath of other flavored products, including menthol cigarettes.

Watson’s co-sponsors are Councilwomen Shontel Lewis and Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez. None of the three served on the council in 2021 when Hancock vetoed the previous bill. The council later came one vote short of mustering the nine necessary to overturn the veto, according to media.

Unlike his predecessor, Mayor Mike Johnston, who took office in mid-2023, has already committed to signing a flavored tobacco ban law if it makes it to his desk.

Monday’s meeting was only a briefing. The ban still needs to be approved by the council before it can be considered for a final vote. The next step for the planned proposal—a hearing before the council’s Safety, Housing, Education, and Homelessness committee—could come as soon as next week.