The smoke finally cleared in Denver’s battle over a citywide ban on flavored tobacco products when a Denver court dismissed a challenge from local vape shop owners seeking to declare the ordinance unconstitutional and block its enforcement.

On Wednesday, Denver District Court Judge Erica F.H. Englert dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Rocky Mountain Smoke-Free Alliance, which argued that the City and County of Denver’s ordinance banning the sale of flavored tobacco products is unconstitutionally vague and violates multiple aspects of both the Colorado and U.S. Constitutions, including free speech.

“This decision sends a clear message that communities have the authority to stand up to the tobacco industry and protect public health,” Jodi Radke, regional director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said in a statement. “We look forward to building on this momentum across Colorado by advancing more local flavored tobacco policies and, ultimately, a statewide law that protects every Colorado kid from the harms of flavored tobacco and the tobacco industry’s relentless efforts to addict a new generation of customers.”

The lawsuit did not seek monetary damages.

The court granted the city’s March 25 motion to dismiss all five claims, finding that the plaintiffs had not made a legally sufficient case to move forward.

“The court rejected each of the tobacco industry’s claims and upheld Denver’s authority to protect public health,” Radke added. “In its ruling, the court recognized Denver’s legitimate interests in promoting public health, reducing youth tobacco use and combating tobacco sales to kids.”

Radke noted that the case was supported by 26 other national, state and local public health, medical and community organizations that joined the amicus brief supporting the city’s motion to dismiss.

John-Paul Willett, a spokesperson for the Rocky Mountain Smoke Free Alliance, asserts that the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids targeted flavored tobacco sold by locally owned vape shops instead of cigarettes.

“Rather than banning cigarettes and fighting the tobacco companies, they eliminated what many adult smokers use as one of the most effective off-ramps to stop smoking cigarettes: vaping,” Willett said in a statement. “To date, 21 million Americans have left cigarette smoking for better alternatives.” 

The court’s decision, Willett asserts, will affect many locally owned vape stores, with some forced to close their doors.

“The court decision didn’t go our way, but it does not mean that this is the end of the fight,” local vape store owner Philip Gueirn told The Denver Gazette.

Guerin, who stepped down several months ago as the president of the Rocky Mountain Smoke-Free Alliance, added: “Small businesses in Denver are being unfairly burdened with short-sighted solutions for long-term problems that the Denver government should be managing.” 

The court ruling comes at the end of a long and expensive journey for local vape shop owners.

After the Denver City Council voted to adopt the flavored tobacco ban in late December 2024, a grassroots effort gained traction when it set out to take the matter to the voters.

In March 2025, a group of vape shop owners — Guerin, Ellen Rochelle, Shanna Finch, Kristen Hensel and Russel Hensel — pushed back by turning in 17,000 signatures to the city, almost twice the 9,500 needed, to put Referendum 310 on the Nov. 4 ballot. The referendum sought to repeal the ban.

More than 70% of Denver voters opted to keep the city’s ban on flavored tobacco in place.

Guerin, then-president of the Rocky Mountain Smoke-Free Alliance Board of Directors and owner of Myxed Up vape stores, said getting Referendum 310 on the ballot was expensive — it cost his group more than $240,000, most of which went to pay the firm that collected and verified the signatures.

Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City, waded into the fight over Denver’s flavored tobacco ban, contributing more than $5 million to Denver Kids vs Big Tobacco, according to Denver Searchlight, the city’s online database for campaign and finance disclosure.

“Unfortunately, the voice of a New York billionaire was more influential than that of a real Denverite,” Guerin told The Denver Gazette in November 2025. “It’s really scary that there’s no limit to the amount of outside money that can be brought in on issues.”

The blowback over the city’s ban on flavored tobacco stems from arguments that the product’s sweet and candylike flavors target youth in particular and serve as a gateway to further substance abuse.

City documents claim that the economic impact of flavored tobacco products in Colorado amounts to $2.2 billion in annual healthcare costs, $4.4 billion in smoking-caused productivity losses and $415 million in estimated Medicaid costs, for a total tax burden of $772 per household.

Enforcement of Denver’s flavored tobacco ban, which prohibits the sale of any flavored tobacco or nicotine product, including menthol, within the city of Denver, began on Jan. 1.

City officials said that while education efforts will continue, retailers can expect both public-facing and undercover investigations to ensure compliance.

This story was updated to include a statement from the Rocky Mountain Smoke-Free Alliance, which did not respond to The Denver Gazette’s request for comment regarding the court’s ruling by the time this story was originally published.