Repeal of Denver's controversial flavored tobacco product ban will go to voters

Colorado voters will now get a say over the controversial ban on flavored tobacco products in Denver. Enough signatures have been collected to put the issue on the ballot and overturn the ban approved by the city council.

 A group of Denver businesses collected over 17,000 signatures for this initiative by the March 18 deadline. That's also the day the ban took effect. More than 10,000 signatures have since been verified, which is enough to get it on the ballot in the upcoming election in November.

Zachary Shadi-Kingsley runs multiple family-owned convenience stores in Denver and has been front and center in the fight against the flavored tobacco ban. He's even led the charge to collect signatures to repeal it.

"This was the fastest collection of those signatures of any ordinance in Denver history," said Shadi-Kingsley. "So, we collected 17,000 signatures in less than two months."

In addition to gathering signatures, the group raised over $200,000 to get them verified.

"That was actually the hardest part was raising enough money from small businesses like ours that are, you know, going to be hit by this the hardest."

Nearly half of Shadi-Kingsley's sales come from tobacco products and a large percentage are flavored. That includes vapes, menthol cigarettes and popular Zyn pouches.

The convenience store also sits near the Denver border, just a few blocks away from another store who can sell the products, which would not only take business away from him, but supports one of his arguments.

"We told city council, 'Hey guys, a ban in Denver will not affect Denver the way you want to affect Denver. You're still going to have the same issues at Denver Health, because the people are still able to get the product. They just are still going to be going to Denver Health and using their facilities. They're still going to be in Denver, just your revenue, and all the sales are going to be moving outside of Denver.'"

In a statement to CBS Colorado, the bill's sponsor, Councilman Darrell Watson, urged voters to side with City Council. The statement read in part, "Repealing Denver's flavored tobacco ban means more kids will get addicted, more people will get sick, and more people will die. We cannot let vape shops continue to put profit over public health."

According to Zachary, the ban won't be enforced prior to the November election, but in the meantime, he's bracing for the worst.

"We've been around for 30 years, and this may put some of us out of business."