Of all places to find a growing citizens’ rebellion against the nanny state, who’d guess it’s happening in woke Denver?

Take note — if Denverites can claw back a little freedom from their elite, it can happen in your city too.

In this city of 70 breweries, 2,000 liquor establishments, some 300 cannabis dispensaries and now mushroom clinics, it was pure poetry when the City Council and Mayor Mike Johnston passed a ban on adults buying flavored tobacco and nicotine products, you know, for the kids.

A hint of cherry in your beer — sure. Peach-infused vodka — bring it on! Any bit of flavor in the product you’re using to help you quit smoking — a perversion that must be stamped out.

I imagine the City Council members who voted to disempower people from their own bodily autonomy also spout “my body, my choice.”

The cognitive dissonance required for this type of selective maternalistic fascism is monumental. After all, those elite took away the personal decisions of 730,000 Denverites because, well, they know what’s right for others.

What they don’t say aloud, but we hear perfectly, is, “your body, our choice.” And constituents are finding that offensive.

Fortunately, some feisty business owners who didn’t appreciate potentially watching their shop be put out of business as pot shops spring up around them decided to do something. They delivered more than 17,000 signatures to repeal this bit of intolerance. And they’re starting to get some interesting allies.

Referendum 310 on the Denver ballot this fall repeals the ban on new smoking cessation products like Zyn and old favorites like Swisher Sweets cigars, which back in my day had to be smoked by every grandfather under penalty of law. Kids today just can’t get enough of them (if not obvious, that’s sarcasm).

Some progressives are understanding woke nanyism is driving people away from the Democratic Party.

Progressive leader Deep Singh Badhesha announced on X, “After a fight, the Denver Democrats will officially take no position on the flavored tobacco ban. Let’s stop nanny state politics that alienate working class voters and protect much needed revenue. This kind of government overreach is exactly what turns voters off.”

Democratic state Sen. Nick Hinrichsen piled on, “Democrats need to take a page out of the libertarian playbook. Adult choices that have no non-consenting third-party impact are never the government’s damn business. Ever.”

Have progressives decided they no longer care about children, realizing pre-teens just look cool with lit cigarettes dandling from their little mouths?

Or have they recognized many of their African-American constituents like menthols, which are now contraband? Or maybe they’ve noticed the large number of Black and Hispanic voters who are growing tired of woke policies and voted for President Donald Trump.

In any event, it’s refreshing to see progressives stand up for personal liberty — just like it’s disappointing when conservatives join the nanny left and “for the children” prohibit adults from buying Swisher Sweets cigars.

Also encouraging is the pro-freedom team is outraising “team nanny” in campaign contributions. Tobacco and vape-shop owners losing their businesses to these bans are putting in the most money, followed by the companies that make the products.

The committee fighting to keep the ban is “Yes for Denver Kids,” which as far as I can tell has no kids in it, only aspiring babysitters. They hide behind kids, but — like tobacco, booze, cannabis and mushrooms — it’s already illegal to sell nicotine products to kids.

They say the reason to ban nicotine products to everyone at every age is sometimes these products have found their way into young people’s hands. Fortunately booze, tobacco, pot and mushrooms never find their respective ways into young people’s hands. We know that hasn’t happened because if it did City Council would quickly ban those products too. They are that consistent and care that much about kids.

Most of the money for team nanny comes from Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund (even though kids can’t buy tobacco), Kaiser Permanente and nanny ultra-funder Michael Bloomberg, who also outlawed large sodas when he was mayor of New York.

So, just what is the difference between Michael Bloomberg and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.? Both have strongly held and controversial beliefs on public health policy. But though RFK Jr. says you shouldn’t take Tylenol, he hasn’t banned it.

Election night we’ll see if Colorado’s deepest-blue voters tell their elite they can make their own decisions.

Jon Caldara is president of the Independence Institute in Denver and hosts “The Devil’s Advocate with Jon Caldara” on Colorado Public Television Channel 12. His column appears Sundays in Colorado Politics.