DENVER — While voters in Denver are getting their chance to repeal a controversial flavored nicotine ban, other Colorado municipalities continue to pass similar ordinances, setting up the possibility of repeal measures elsewhere in the state.
In December 2025, the Denver City Council nearly unanimously (11-1) voted to ban many nicotine products, including menthol cigarettes, e-cigarettes, vapes, and other flavored nicotine items. The law prohibited the sale of any nicotine delivery product that “masked” the flavor of pure tobacco.
In April of this year, a citizen-initiated ballot measure to repeal the ordinance qualified for the November ballot.
Ironically, the federal government may have given repeal advocates a big boost towards unwinding the ban. Shortly after the Denver flavor ban was voted into place, the Food and Drug Administration okayed the marketing of Zyn nicotine pouches, which the FDA calls “beneficial” as an alternative to tobacco products.
Zyn includes several flavored options, which are now illegal in Denver under the ban, including cinnamon, citrus, coffee, cool mint and menthol.
And it’s not just the FDA casting shade on the legitimacy of such bans. A study by the National Institute of Health reported in its conclusion that “vaping appears to be an effective method for smoking cessation, and it is associated with a lower risk of adverse events than combustible cigarettes.”
While other metro-area communities (Edgewater and Golden) had already banned the products, Denver was then and still is the largest city to pass such an ordinance. It will also be the largest to have the ban come before voters to repeal.
The citizen’s initiative has drawn so much attention that Denver officials have decided not to enforce the ban until after the election, with supporters of the repeal far outraising their opponents in terms of money.
According to the Denver City Clerk’s website, Denver Kids vs Big Tobacco has raised just under $250,000 to keep the ban in place, with the top three funders being Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund ($115,241), New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg ($73,500), and Kaiser Permanente ($50,000).
On the other side, those who want to repeal the ban, Citizen Power! has nearly doubled that ($410,000), with its top three donors being Rocky Mountain Smoke Free Alliance ($172,700), Altria Client Services – which owns several large tobacco companies such as Phillip Morris and U.S. Smokeless Tobacco. Co – ($75,000), and Phillip Morris International ($75,000).
The flavor ban bandwagon
Yet despite all things pointing to a repeal of the ban, city councils in two mountain towns, Dillon and Eagle just last month passed similar flavor bans that will take effect in January, 2026.
All totaled, 14 Colorado communities, made up mainly of other mountain towns, have passed the bans, including Aspen, Breckenridge, Carbondale, Frisco, Keystone, Silverthorne, Glenwood Springs and Snowmass Village.
Opponents of such flavor bans argue municipal bans will only drive retailers out of business, while not having the desired effect, as users will simply buy in other neighboring communities, leaving the high-tax revenue behind.
Taxes on nicotine account for more than double the cost of the product. In Colorado a 5-can roll of Zyns averages about $45-$60, depending on location. That same roll can be purchased in Wyoming for between $15-25 per roll.
The tobacco-alternative market in Colorado has grown tremendously over the years, including a $600 million Zyn manufacturing facility in Aurora.
According to a Colorado Public Radio report, Phillip Morris International (PMI) spokesperson Amanda Wheeler told the Eagle town council that its products aim to help adults quit smoking.
”We do everything every day to make sure that this doesn’t end up a problem among our youth,” she said.
Prikita Kumar, the director of PMI’s U.S. Scientific Engagement Group, added that flavors are not a marketing trick for the company.
“They’re essential to helping adult smokers switch.”
Kumar also said tobacco use is actually trending down among U.S. youth.
“In fact, what’s really troubling is that alcohol and cannabis use is very high in the youth today,” Kumar said, alluding to the fact that Eagle–along with other municipalities that have passed nicotine bans– continues to allow the sale of the two other age-restricted substances within its city limits.
