Tobacco companies aid vape shops in push to repeal Denver flavored tobacco ban, outraising law’s backers

A campaign group seeking to overturn Denver’s ban on flavored tobacco sales in the November election has far outraised supporters of the prohibition, campaign finance records show.

The opponents of the ban, a coalition of Denver vape store owners organized as a group called “Citizen Power!,” raised $410,000 through the end of August, according to campaign finance reports filed this month. The campaign group supporting the ban, “Denver Kids vs. Big Tobacco,” raised about $245,000.

In December, the Denver City Council near-unanimously approved a ban on sales of most flavored tobacco and nicotine products after public health and children’s advocates argued the products could lure young people into a life of addiction.

The council approved the ban, which applies to any sales within city limits, despite heavy lobbying from tobacco companies and vape stores. Mayor Mike Johnston signed it.

“I have seen firsthand how tobacco products, especially when introduced at a young age, can shape a lifetime of struggle,” Councilwoman Flor Alvidrez said at the time.

Only Councilman Kevin Flynn voted no, saying he didn’t believe the ban would prevent young people from obtaining the products since they are legal in neighboring cities and counties.

In March, “Citizen Power!” submitted 17,000 signatures in hopes of putting a question on the ballot to overturn the ban. The city verified that at least 9,494 of the signatures were valid, passing the threshold for a citizen’s ballot initiative — and qualifying Referendum 310 for the ballot.

Contributors to “Citizen Power!” include various tobacco interests and vape store advocates, including $172,700 from the Rocky Mountain Smoke Free Alliance, a vaping industry trade association; $75,000 each from the tobacco company Philip Morris International and Altria Client Services, which is part of its parent company; and $12,500 from Swisher International.

“Citizen Power!” has argued that the ban will hurt small family- and minority-owned businesses in Denver. In recent weeks, its advertisements have also focused on the potential decrease in tax revenue for the city, which is struggling with a budget crisis.

The group’s president, Philip Guerin, the owner of Myxed Up Creations on East Colfax Avenue, said it has been misrepresented by supporters of the ban.

“I’m not Big Tobacco,” he said. “We’re advocating for vape products, not cigarettes.”

Guerin said that instead of creating a new prohibition for adults, the city should better enforce its earlier ban on sales of the products to children.

“Denver Kids vs. Big Tobacco” has received contributions from anti-smoking groups like the Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund, which has donated about $115,000, and from Kaiser Permanente, the health care giant, which has given $50,000. Businessman and former Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg has contributed $73,500.

Jodi Radke with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which is affiliated with the fund, said flavored vape products are intended to create lifelong tobacco users.

“When the tobacco industry makes flavored products that taste like candy or uses gimmicks like video games to draw kids in, they know exactly what they’re doing,” she said in an emailed statement.