Three years after a earlier try was vetoed, Denver’s Metropolis Council late final yr overwhelmingly handed an ordinance banning the sale of flavored tobacco inside metropolis limits.
In March, opponents of the ban gathered sufficient signatures to place its destiny on the poll. Within the Nov. 4 election, Denverites will vote on Referendum 310, which is able to decide whether or not town can start implementing the ban early subsequent yr, as deliberate, or if it’s repealed in its entirety.
What would 310 do if handed?
If permitted by voters, Referendum 310 would reaffirm town ordinance that banned taste tobacco gross sales within the metropolis. If 310 fails, the ordinance will likely be repealed — with out ever having been enforced — when the election is licensed, doubtless by the third week of November.
To be clear, for the reason that referendum is phrased as a query of whether or not to maintain the ordinance, a “sure” vote means assist for the ban. A “no” vote means opposition — and a vote to repeal it.
What does the ordinance say?
The ordinance handed by the council makes it unlawful to “promote, supply on the market, give, barter, ship or furnish” flavored tobacco merchandise in Denver. That applies to e-cigarettes, tobacco vape pens and different merchandise that present “a cooling” or “numbing sensation, style or scent apart from the style or scent of tobacco” — together with smells or tastes just like fruits, mint, menthol, candies or different candies, desserts, herbs, spices or alcoholic drinks.
Colorado voter information: Tales and explainers for the 2025 election
The ordinance covers menthol cigarettes, a product lengthy marketed to Black prospects. The ordinance doesn’t apply to hookah tobacco.
Any store that violates the ordinance will likely be given a warning upon the primary offense. But when the store will get a second violation in 2026, they are going to be blocked from promoting tobacco merchandise for 30 days. A 3rd violation throughout the yr prompts a 60-day suspension, and a fourth violation nets a yearlong timeout.
Beginning in 2027, two violations inside two years will earn a 30-day suspension; three inside two years will lead to a 60-day hit; and 4 inside two years will imply a 12-month suspension. Beginning in 2028, the multiple-violation window expands from two years to 3.
The ordinance doesn’t make it unlawful for individuals to own flavored tobacco merchandise in Denver — as long as they’re sufficiently old to purchase them within the first place.
What do supporters say?
Supporters of the ban, together with council members and public well being officers, have argued that flavored nicotine merchandise are focused at younger individuals. They’ve framed the ordinance as a public well being measure meant to curb the usage of an addictive substance, notably amongst youthful Denverites.
What do opponents say?
House owners of tobacco retailers, in addition to representatives from the bigger tobacco business, contend that the ban will damage small companies and that native staff will lose their jobs ought to the ordinance be enforced. Denver prospects will have the ability to go to shops in neighboring cities that promote flavored merchandise, they level out.
Critics additionally argue that adults are able to deciding for themselves whether or not to make use of the merchandise and that town ought to as a substitute concentrate on guaranteeing that children and underage patrons do not buy nicotine within the first place.
Would the ban have an effect on town’s funds?
Opponents of the ban have argued that it’ll decrease tax revenues and damage town’s coffers. However metropolis officers say that it is unclear if that is true and, whether it is, how extreme the influence will likely be.
In town’s official poll information, metropolis officers anticipated that town “could expertise” a decline in gross sales tax income if 310 handed — and the ordinance stood — however they could not present a particular projection of what that influence is likely to be. They wrote that it was “unattainable to precisely isolate the share of flavored tobacco merchandise inside total metropolis gross sales tax collections.”
How a lot has been raised by campaigns?
Greater than $2.48 million had been raised on each side of the Referendum 310 struggle as of Oct. 8, based on town’s marketing campaign finance system. Most of that cash got here from a $1.5 million verify to the group supporting the ban, given by billionaire Michael Bloomberg, a outstanding left-of-center donor and the previous mayor of New York Metropolis.
With Bloomberg’s donation and contributions by well being advocates, the pro-310 marketing campaign has raised greater than $2 million, in comparison with almost $469,000 raised by the group opposing the ban. Its assist has included a vaping business commerce affiliation and tobacco corporations.
Keep up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly publication, The Spot.
Initially Printed:
