Denver City Council passed Bill 21-1182 to ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products with no consideration of underage use rates or public health. The bill is now eligible for the Mayor to sign or veto. The sale of all tobacco products is already illegal to anyone under the age of 21.
They say Bill 21-1182 will address the youth vaping epidemic, tackle social media advertising and online sales of vapor products and is good for public health.
The bill does NOT do what they say it does!
Council Bill 21-1182 does:
• BAN products the FDA says are for the “protection of public health.”
• NOT address vapor product advertising or online vapor sales.
• NOT BAN all vapor products, just flavored.
Council Bill 21-1182 overextends to ban the sale of many other adult products that youth are not using according to the 2019 Healthy Kids Colorado survey. For example, only 1% of Denver youth have used chewing tobacco, snuff, dip, snus, or dissolvable tobacco products in the last 30 days.
Council Bill 21-1182 also bans reduced-harm products authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the “protection of public health” and other potentially less harmful non-combustible products working through the FDA process, such as nicotine pouches.
According to the FDA, those who can’t or won’t quit smoking should transition to smoke-free alternatives. Bill 21-1182 bans adult access to these products. It eliminates many potentially less harmful alternatives and takes away smoke-free options for adults.
Instead of banning these reduced-harm and potentially less harmful products, policymakers should encourage adult smokers to transition to smoke-free alternatives.
This makes no sense! STOP the ban.
We agree that kids shouldn’t use products meant for adults. Banning reduced-harm products that help adults give up cigarettes is the wrong path to accomplish it. Denver City Council Bill 21-1182 is adult prohibition and will create many unintended consequences when underage usage of many of the banned products is at historic lows.
Unintended Consequences For Denver:
Bill 21-1182 Can Increase Underage Smoking
A Yale University study found that after the City of San Francisco’s ban on flavored products in 2018, there was a significant increase in smoking among high school students. This increase in high schoolers smoking is especially disturbing in that it reverses trends showing reduced smoking among underage people since the government increased the age to buy tobacco products to age 21 in 2019.
Bans Could Create an Illicit Market
Banning these products won’t make them go away. It will just drive consumers to the illegal market where criminals don’t care about checking IDs or where the products came from. Adult prohibition never works. It will simply push sales outside Denver and can lead to increased crime in our communities.
Bans Drive Adults Back To Cigarettes
Banning flavored dip and nicotine pouches leaves adult tobacco consumers no place to turn but to traditional combustible cigarettes. This especially is true for the thousands of adults who already gave up cigarettes for these smoke-free products.
Bans Eliminate Jobs
The bans in bill 21-1182 are not based on data and will unnecessarily hurt local small businesses and neighborhood retailers by outlawing the sale of traditional adult products like dip and menthol cigarettes – impacting their bottom line and their ability to keep their employees working while many are struggling to stay afloat.
STOP THE BAN.
Bill 21-1182 doesn’t do what they say it does and makes no sense! Follow the data, Denver.
Paid for by RESOURCE
Retailers and Store Owners United to Rebuild our Communities’ Economies
757 E. 20th Ave. Ste. 370 #338, Denver, CO 80205
This effort funded by Altria Client Services LLC.
For more information please visit retailersandstoreowners.org