On New Year’s Eve, the City of Golden will celebrate one year of limiting kids’ access to the flavored tobacco products that often hook them into a lifetime of nicotine addiction. 

Golden City Council’s bold and unanimous decision to end the sale of flavors such as pink lemonade, root beer float, banana split and sweet mint was based on overwhelming evidence these products are a gateway to addiction. Golden parents can rest assured fewer kids are trying e-cigarettes or flavored nicotine pouches, because those products have been off store shelves since Jan. 1. 

Eighty-one percent of youth who use tobacco started with a flavored product like cotton candy e-cigarettes, bubble gum vapes and menthol cigarettes. Ending the sale of flavored products prevents kids from starting tobacco use and reduces the lifelong health impacts of nicotine addiction. 

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The tobacco industry is worried — and attempting to scare other cities like Denver with misleading information about Golden’s “downfall” after the comprehensive flavored vaping and nicotine ban.

Let’s set the record straight: since protecting our children, Golden is thriving!

Our community is healthier and more prosperous, because we know public health and a strong economy are not mutually exclusive — quite the opposite. With a focus on building a vibrant and family-friendly community, we are attracting new businesses and responsible tourism.

Since banning dangerous and addictive products, Golden’s 2024 sales tax revenues are up by more than 7% over budget year-to-date, setting a new record.

The tobacco industry repeats false claims a ban will harm local businesses and retailers lose so much revenue their very existence is threatened. The facts tell a different story: a report from economists at the University of Illinois-Chicago found “no evidence that flavored e-cigarette or menthol cigarette sales restrictions have negative effects on tobacco stores, convenience stores, or convenience stores with gas stations.”

Oh, and contrary to the industry’s forecast Golden businesses would fail, not a single convenience store has closed.

Not surprisingly, the tobacco industry fought back in Golden this summer, engaging in a campaign to reverse the council’s actions by sending anonymous and misleading text polls to Golden residents, hoping to garner support for a ballot measure to reintroduce flavored products in Golden.

Thankfully, the tobacco industry was instead shocked by an outpouring of community support for the citywide removal of flavored products. City Council has stood by this decision and stands with our children, parents and community members.

Let’s clear the air on another tobacco industry lie, that Golden has given money to replace tobacco revenues. Golden’s support for our businesses is strong, and City Council approved one-time grants up to $10,000 to help businesses who choose to embrace the future with healthier product selections and services.

Golden is a city on the rise, and we join other healthy communities including Edgewater, Boulder, Carbondale, Aspen, Snowmass Village and Glenwood Springs.

The reality is tobacco use negatively affects the community at large in addition to the kids and adults who became addicted as kids. In Colorado, smoking causes over 5,000 premature deaths each year. Tobacco use is one of the largest drivers of health care spending, costing our state $2.19 billion annually in health care expenditures directly caused by smoking. 

One thing we can all agree on is that public health efforts like prohibitions on flavored tobacco products are working. A recent study found that youth and young adults who lived in an area covered by a flavored tobacco sales restriction had lower odds of any tobacco use and current flavored tobacco use compared to those who lived in an area without a restriction.  

Recently the Surgeon General reported the tobacco industry has created and marketed “menthol cigarettes and other tobacco products that deliver multisensory flavor experiences which increase the likelihood of tobacco initiation, addiction, and sustained use,” which can be reduced with policies that restrict their availability.

Golden City Council’s actions to end the sale of flavored tobacco will cut off access to the flavored products young people are drawn to and help them avoid tobacco addiction in the future.  

As data shows us, local businesses will pivot to join us in our efforts to create a nicotine-free future. The only regret is not passing this during our first consideration, in 2019.  

Bill Fisher is a Golden city councilmember, representing Ward 4. Jodi Radke is the Rocky Mountains/Great Plains regional director for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.