Basalt, Colo. to Raise Tobacco Purchasing Age to 21

While Colorado hasn’t been a hotbed of cities and towns raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21-years-old, it now has a second municipality to join the Tobacco 21 movement.

At its meeting on Tuesday night, the Basalt Town Council unanimously approved both an increase in the purchasing age as well as a new licensing requirement for tobacco retailers. The move comes approximately nine months after nearby Aspen passed an increase to its purchasing age.

Both the age increase and the requirement for tobacco retailers to hold a license will go into effect on July 1.

More changes could be coming to tobacco retailers and consumers in Basalt, as there will be a tax increase question posed to voters during the town’s April 3 election. A question on the ballot seeks a $2 per pack increase on cigarettes, while other tobacco products such as premium cigars would be hit with a new tax that is 40 percent of the wholesale price. Both are similar to measures passed in Aspen during its most recent in election.

Basalt is home to approximately 4,000 residents and is located 19 miles northwest of Aspen.

Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, the G-League's Valley Suns, and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.