Loveland City Council to consider first steps toward ban on flavored vapes

LOVELAND — The Loveland City Council could take its first step toward adopting an ordinance that would add a $300 annual fee to tobacco sellers and ban the sale of flavored vape liquids within the city.

The ordinance, which would affect 69 businesses in the city, would use the annual fees to cover the cost of additional compliance checks. The council could also adopt a ban on the sale and advertising of flavored vapes within the city, or ban flavors other than standard tobacco and menthol.

The council could also implement an additional license requirement for vapes on top of the tobacco license.

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In council documents, Loveland city staff say that just less than a quarter of minors in Larimer County reported using a vape within a 30-day period in 2019, with the majority using flavored liquids.

Public comment won’t be allowed in the Tuesday meeting, as the item was continued from a long public comment period in last week’s session.

In a letter, Colorado School of Public Health dean Jonathan Samet urged the city to take on the ban because it doesn’t anticipate federal regulation of e-cigarettes for years after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration took jurisdiction of the industry in 2016.

“While we know that most tobacco retailers sell responsibly, we also know that one bad actor can create a pathway of addiction for a community’s youth,” he said.

Keith Smelser, an owner of two 7-Eleven locations in the city, said in a letter that he supports tighter licensing as a way to prevent minors from buying tobacco products. However, he argues that the passage of a law to raise the minimum age to buy nicotine products in July and the statewide increase on the tobacco tax in November have already priced out minors, and the additional vape ban would only hurt retailers.

“Tobacco sales account for 36% of in-store sales and are relied upon by retailers to keep their lights on and doors open,” he said. “Please don’t take away further revenue from us through banning the sale of flavored tobacco products.”

Boulder enacted a ban on flavored vape sales in the city last summer.