Denver, Colo. – November 17, 2021 – Today, the Denver City Council Safety, Housing, Education, and Homelessness Committee voted unanimously, 7-0, to end to the sale of many flavored tobacco products including e-cigarettes and menthol flavored products. However, the City Council Committee exempted hookah, pipe tobacco and premium cigars. The bill now moves forward for consideration by the full Council.
The following is a statement from ACS CAN Government Relations Director R.J. Ours:
“By removing menthol flavored tobacco products, flavored e-cigarettes and most other flavored tobacco products from its shelves, Denver has taken a critical first step to put public health over industry profit. While we’re grateful to the council committee for such measures, we know that any flavored product that is left on the market risks becoming the next go-to product especially for youth.
“Menthol, other candy- and fruit-flavored tobacco products are a key part of the tobacco industry’s strategy to entice our youth into a potential lifetime of addiction. Research shows that flavors drive the unprecedented increase in youth tobacco uptake, with 81% of kids who have ever tried tobacco starting with a flavored product.
“Big Tobacco also has a long history of targeting lower-income, communities of color and LGBTQ+ communities, with flavored products which has led to a disproportionate cancer burden. For example, Black Americans still have the highest death rate and shortest survival of any racial group in the U.S. for most cancers; and Black men have the highest cancer incidence rate.
“ACS CAN volunteers will continue to work with all Colorado elected officials and urge them to end the sale of all flavored tobacco products including hookah, cigars and loose tobacco to reduce the suffering and death caused by tobacco use and cancer in our communities.”