Denver’s latest proposed ban on flavored vapes, other tobacco products advances with new exemption

A Denver City Council committee on Wednesday advanced a measure that would ban sales of most flavored tobacco and nicotine products in the city, despite strong objections from the industry and retailers that sell e-cigarettes and vapes.

The council’s Safety, Housing, Education & Homelessness Committee voted 6-1 to move the ban on for consideration at the full council. The final vote would be the second attempt to pass a flavored tobacco ban in the last three years.

The measure would ban nearly every kind of flavored tobacco and nicotine product from being sold within the city’s borders, including menthol cigarettes and flavored e-cigarettes and vapes. The goal, according to the ordinance’s sponsors, is to protect the health of young people.

Retailers — including Phil Guerin, the owner of vape shop Myxed Up Creations, which has a Denver location — argued the ban would punish law-abiding business owners who do not sell to underage customers and would deprive the city of millions in sales tax revenues. Colorado law sets the minimum age for tobacco products at 21.

The proposed ordinance was introduced in late October, but its progress was delayed through November while sponsors met with industry representatives and incorporated feedback. The updated ordinance discussed Wednesday exempts flavored tobacco smoked out of hookah pipes, a common practice in Middle Eastern and North African cultures.

The ordinance, including the hookah exemption, closely mirrors the progress of a similar ban that the council passed in 2021. Then-Mayor Michael Hancock vetoed that law, arguing that Denver acting alone — while surrounding municipalities continued to allow sales of flavored products — would not keep tobacco out of the hands of kids.