Key Takeaways:
- Referendum 310 asks voters whether to keep or repeal Denver’s citywide ban on flavored tobacco products.
- Small retailers warn repeal is vital to preserve $13M in annual city tax revenue; health advocates argue ban protects youth.
- Mail ballots go out Oct. 10, with results set to shape local policy and industry sales.
Denver voters will decide this November whether to uphold or overturn a citywide ban on flavored tobacco products, a measure approved by the City Council in December 2023.
The referendum, placed on the ballot after opponents collected enough signatures, is presented as a choice between youth protection and maintaining adult access to alternative nicotine products. A “yes” vote keeps the ban in place; a “no” vote repeals it.
Phil Guerin, owner of Myxed Up Creations and leader of the repeal coalition Citizen Power!, said the law would threaten more than 500 licensed retailers across the city.
“This law is going to impact over 500 businesses that actually have nicotine licenses in the city,” Guerin told CBS Colorado, adding that half his sales come from vapes and pouches. He warned the ban could also strip $13 million in annual tax revenue from Denver’s budget.
City council members, who voted in favor of the ban last year, argue that the measure is needed to reduce youth addiction. “The outcome will be better health for our communities, better health for our youth, less targeting of our youth and people of color with these poisonous products,” Councilmember Darrell Watson said.
Mail ballots are scheduled to be distributed beginning Oct. 10.
