Eight out of 10 youth who have ever used tobacco products started with a flavored product. On Monday, Dec. 16, with a vote of 11-1, Denver City Council Members voted to end the sale of flavored tobacco, including menthol cigarettes, within city limits.
Members of the Denver City Council took decisive action to protect Denver’s kids and our entire community from the harms of flavored tobacco. Bill sponsors Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, Shontel Lewis and Darrell Watson showed incredible leadership in the face of relentless pressure from the tobacco industry trying to protect its profits at all costs.
“This vote will help keep thousands of Denver kids from ever picking up a tobacco product and help decrease the health inequities in our communities,” said Jodi Radke, Rocky Mountain/Great Plains regional director for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
Each year in Colorado, more than 7,900 kids try their first cigarette. And half of all youth who have ever tried smoking started with menthol cigarettes, which are easier to start smoking, more addictive, and harder to quit. Over 1.6 million middle and high school students in the United States are current e- cigarette users, and nearly 90 percent use flavored e-cigarettes. 86.3 percent of the e-cigarette market, the vast majority of which are flavored products, is illegal because it lacks marketing authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Before the final vote, several Denver residents urged council members to approve the ordinance on Monday.
Tobacco kills more than 490,000 people annually – more than AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders and suicides combined. For decades, the tobacco industry has targeted Black Americans, especially youth, with marketing for menthol cigarettes and other tobacco products like flavored cigars. Because of this, Black Americans are disproportionately impacted by tobacco use and die at higher rates than other groups from tobacco-related diseases such as cancer, heart disease and stroke. Tobacco use claims 50,000 Black lives each year, and lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the Black community. Additionally, Latino youth experience high exposure to tobacco marketing and a higher proportion of LBGTQ+ young people use cigarettes and e-cigarettes compared to their peers.
“Tobacco companies are intentionally hurting our communities, putting profits over people,” said Isaac Hysten, student council president at AUL Denver. “We need to protect children and stop the industry from pushing these products onto store shelves. I have friends and family who have been hospitalized because of their tobacco use. This is an issue here in Denver, but also throughout our state and even across the country. Denver kids are our future, and we need to protect them from this dangerous industry.”
“We are tired of watching generations of families succumb to the terrible effects of tobacco, all because of the tobacco industry’s predatory marketing,” said Nita Gonzales, principal of Nuevo Amanecer and longtime Denver activist. “Denver has a strong track record of putting the community’s health and well- being above corporate profits and revenue, and I am glad that City Council made the decision tonight to protect our kids.”
Last month’s U.S. Surgeon General’s report on tobacco-related disparities detailed the tobacco industry’s pervasive role in creating and perpetuating tobacco-related disparities, including manipulating products to make them more appealing and addictive, marketing to vulnerable populations and fighting policies to reduce tobacco use.
The report noted that “local laws restricting the sale of flavored tobacco products are associated with a decrease in tobacco product sales and in the prevalence of tobacco use among youth.”
Polling has showed that two out of three Denver voters support ending the sale of flavored tobacco. Denver will become Colorado’s eighth and largest city to remove flavored products from store shelves, joining Aspen, Boulder, Carbondale, Edgewater, Glenwood Springs, Golden and Snowmass Village.
“Across the country, data from cities and states that have ended the sale of flavored tobacco shows that not only do these policies reduce youth use, but they do not lead to any meaningful reduction in the number of convenient or tobacco stores or employees or reduce wages in convenience stores.” Radke said. “We look forward to other municipalities recognizing that similar policies will protect their kids and help their residents, strengthening even more Colorado communities.”
More than 100 organizations endorsed the policy to end the sale of flavored tobacco in Denver, including Denver Health and Hospital Authority, the Board of Denver Public Schools and University of Colorado School of Medicine.
“This is personal to me,” said John Bailey, chairman of the Colorado Black Round Table. “I lost my wife, and we lost a community leader way too soon because of tobacco use. Unfortunately, my story is not unique. Too many Black families of my generation experienced similar losses and still suffer the long- term effects today. I am happy to support this ban on flavored tobacco in Denver.”
“Tonight, Denver’s City Council took a stand to eliminate flavored tobacco in our city,” said Elbra Wedgeworth, a former president of the Denver City Council. “They sent a message to future generations that we value them, and we want them to have the quality of life they deserve.”
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