On Tuesday, a bill in the Colorado Legislature seeking to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products was defeated by the Senate Appropriations Committee, which voted down HB 1064 by a 5-2 vote. The vote came as the Legislature entered its final hours of the session and numerous bills were voted down in light of higher priority bills still awaiting action.
The bill had passed the House by a vote of 54-8 just under a week ago. During the deliberation process in that chamber, a number of exemptions were added, including one for premium cigars along with pipe tobacco and hookah products. That meant that the bill focused primarily on vaping products, e-cigarettes, flavored chewing tobacco, menthol cigarettes and any synthetic nicotine products, as the state struggles with high numbers of young people using such products.
While the bill’s sponsors have said they will reintroduce it in a future session, Gov. Jared Polis has indicated his opposition to such a bill, saying that he believes such a matter should be handled at the local level. Ironically, it was a bill that failed at the local level that spurred the idea for a statewide bill, as in December 2021, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock vetoed a similar ban passed by the Denver City Council, saying he thought such a ban should come from the state level, or if nothing less passed by a regional coalition.