Tag: Denver

  • Denver City Council Going for Flavor Ban … Again

    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.

  • Denver Mayor Vetoes Flavor Ban, Council Could Override

    Denver Mayor Vetoes Flavor Ban, Council Could Override

    Denver, Colorado Mayor Michael Hancock issued a veto Friday on a flavored vaping and tobacco ban approved by city council on Dec. 6. Approved in an 8-3 vote, the ban was slated to begin in 2023, pending Hancock’s signature.

    “I want the public to understand I share the same objective that this bill promoted, but to do it in Denver, it would have only been, in my eyes, symbolic,” Hancock told Denver’s Fox31 news.

    Credit: Daniel Jędzura

    “Kids could have still crossed the street to Aurora and purchased the product. Businesses were going to be hurt because people would go across the street to procure the product, as opposed to coming into their store where it would be banned, and that to me is just not responsible legislation.”

    The measure’s main sponsor, Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer, said she had been hearing about the potential for a veto.

    “Disappointed, yes, but surprised, no,” Sawyer said. “When I spoke to the mayor earlier today, he and I talked about the potential for other options moving forward. And although we’ve been working on this for a year or so, you know some of those options could have absolutely been pursued by now and haven’t been, but I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to find a good partnership moving forward.”

    Hancock said he isn’t sure what will happen Monday, where the City Council will have the decision to override his veto. The council will need 9 votes to do so.

  • Denver Becomes 7th Colorado City to Ban Vape Flavors

    Denver Becomes 7th Colorado City to Ban Vape Flavors

    After months of debate, the Denver City Council approved a controversial ordinance that outlaws the sale of flavored vaping and other tobacco products, including menthol, beginning in July 2023. With Monday’s 8 to 3 vote, Denver becomes the seventh Colorado municipality to enact a ban on flavored e-cigarettes.

    Credit: Kevin Ruck

    Exemptions are in place for hookah products, natural cigars, pipe tobacco and harm-reduction products. The ordinance also calls for retailers to receive a warning for a first offense, however, subsequent offenses could lead to a store losing its tobacco retail license.

    Proponents of the ban argue tobacco companies have long used predatory marketing of menthol to lure people of color, those with low incomes and youth — especially those who identify as LBGTQ+. Companies deny this, according to an article on denverite.com.

    “This proposal tonight, it really is about public health,” said council member Jamie Torres, who represents District 3 and voted for the proposal. “Our kids aren’t property owners. They’re not business owners, but they are the ones who are also telling us we need to make this less accessible to them.”

    City Council President Staci Gilmore argues that Denver already regulates alcohol and cannabis. “We want to keep kids safe, but we also want to allow adults to be adults,” said Gilmore, who represents District 11, and voted against the measure. Last month, councilmember Kevin Flynn called the bill an overreach affecting adults who want to use these products.

    Grier Bailey and Jonathan Shaer, writing for Colorado Politics, state that Denver city councilmembers should consider what’s happened to Massachusetts since it passed a statewide flavor ban of its own in 2020. “The state gave up a well-regulated and enforced network of licensed retailers, lost over $140 million on the sale of menthol cigarettes, and public health advocates can’t claim any empirical health benefits from the ban as the data shows most consumers shifted their purchase habits to other states or other nicotine products and flavors,” they state. “Many Massachusetts retailers have reduced employee hours and even had to cut jobs. The flavor ban has been a failure at every level.”