Top Takeaways:
- Denver voters approved Referendum 310, allowing the city’s ban on flavored nicotine products—including menthol cigarettes and flavored vapes—to take effect.
- The ballot fight became the most expensive municipal campaign in Denver history, fueled by nearly $5 million in funding from Michael Bloomberg.
- Vape-shop owners and industry groups warn the ban will shift sales to online vendors and neighboring cities.
Denver voters have confirmed the city’s ban on flavored nicotine products, with early results indicating about 72% support for Referendum 310—a decision that will allow the flavored-tobacco restrictions passed by the city council last year to take effect in the coming weeks or months.
The flavor ban includes menthol cigarettes and all flavored vaping products, such as fruit, mint, and dessert varieties. Retailers will be prohibited from selling flavored nicotine products once enforcement starts.
The vote attracted statewide and national attention as Denver became the first city in Colorado where voters directly considered a ban on flavored nicotine. According to city records, the campaign was the most expensive in Denver’s history.
Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg contributed nearly $5 million to the pro-ban effort—funding television ads and outreach under the banner “Denver Kids vs. Big Tobacco.”
Laura Leigh-Oyler, the VP of Regulatory Affairs at Nicokick.com, told Nicotine Insider that when alternative nicotine products are banned, public health loses.
“For those who are trying to quit smoking, research has shown it will be harder. It’s also been shown that illicit behavior will increase, as sales shift to a black market of unregulated and unsafe products,” she said. “If the goal is to help people who want to quit using harmful cigarettes and to stop youth from utilizing tobacco products, there is still more work to be done.”
The ballot measure was initiated after opponents gathered enough signatures to challenge the ordinance passed by the Denver City Council last year. A “yes” vote keeps the ban in place; a “no” vote would have repealed it.
Supporters of the measure, heavily backed by public health groups, framed the vote as a youth prevention effort. “I’m encouraged that people paid attention and that they think the health of our children is important,” said Selena Dunham, an outreach coordinator for the Yes on 310 campaign.
Opposition was mainly led by local vape-shop owners and the Rocky Mountain Smoke Free Alliance. The group argued the ban would cause adults to shop in nearby cities or online, and it would eliminate a large part of the legal retail market.
Opponents raised approximately $652,000, with contributions from vape-shop owners, the Rocky Mountain Smoke Free Alliance, and smaller early donations from Altria and Philip Morris International, although neither company contributed additional funds later in the campaign.
Opponents argued that the funding imbalance made it hard to counter the public health messages supporting the ban. “I don’t feel that voters had all the information they needed because we were outspent in the last month,” said Phil Guerin, president of the Rocky Mountain Smoke Free Alliance and owner of Myxed Up Creations.
Guerin said campaign ads blurred the lines between big cigarette companies and independent vape shops. “I’m not Big Tobacco,” he said.
Denver is now the 14th city in Colorado to implement flavored-tobacco restrictions, joining Aspen, Boulder, Golden, and others. Nationwide, nearly 400 municipalities and six states have enacted flavor bans, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Ironically, flavored marijuana products remain legal.
Public-health advocates say Denver’s vote will likely influence other Colorado municipalities to consider similar measures. “I think it does have implications to inspire and have an impact in other areas outside of Colorado,” said Jodi Radke, regional director at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
