As a family medicine physician, I take care of patients daily who smoke cigarettes and vape various forms of nicotine-containing products such as e-cigarettes. I know the harmful effects of smoking–lung cancer, heart disease, premature death — in fact, more than 5,000 Coloradans prematurely die every year from tobacco. It’s estimated 90,000 children in Colorado will eventually die premature deaths from tobacco. These tolls are far too great. We must strive for a smoke-free Colorado, and passing SB24-022 is an important step to doing so. I applaud bill sponsors in state Sen. Kyle Mullica and state Reps. Elizabeth Velasco and Kyle Brown for introducing this common-sense legislation. 

SB24-022 would allow county commissioners to ban the retail sale of flavored tobacco and nicotine products, but would not enact any ban itself. This has good precedent both locally and nationally. Seven cities in Colorado have already enacted bans on flavored tobacco or nicotine, and five states across the country have also banned flavored nicotine. 

Banning flavors of nicotine products will reduce rates of youth use. Flavor additives make tobacco and nicotine products more appealing, especially to children and first-time users, enhance nicotine’s effects and make it more difficult for people to quit smoking. Though cigarette use among teenagers is declining, use of e-cigarettes is on the rise, with more than 30% of Colorado teenagers reporting having ever tried vaping. Youth who vape nicotine are at an increased risk of cigarette smoking in the future. From the National Youth Tobacco Survey, youth cite availability of flavors as a primary reason for using e-cigarettes, and almost 70% of youth using e-cigarettes report using flavored products. Banning flavors is an effective tool to reduce the rates of e-cigarette and cigarette smoking.

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Nicotine is especially harmful to youth. Any type of nicotine use by adolescents can affect their brain development, learning, memory and attention. Preventing youth smoking prevents smoking into adulthood; almost 90% of all adults who smoke began before 18 years of age.

Additionally, banning flavors of tobacco may address racial health disparities. The tobacco industry has predatorily marketed menthol cigarettes, the most common flavored cigarette, to Black communities for many years, and the results of this are stark. Menthol cigarettes are now smoked by more than four in five non-Hispanic Black people who smoke, compared to less than 1 in 3 non-Hispanic white people who smoke. This contributes to Black Americans smoking at higher rates than their non-Black counterparts and having higher rates of smoking-related health outcomes. While the FDA continues to mull a decision to ban menthol cigarettes nationwide, Colorado has an opportunity to act. 

SB24-022 will give local governments the power to advocate for their citizens’ health. I ask for the Colorado House and Gov. Jared Polis to support SB24-022 with an eye toward a healthier, smoke-free Colorado.

Luke Davis, MD is a family medicine physician in Colorado.