Which personal story convinced 11 Denver City Council members to stand up to the tobacco industry and end the sale of their deadly, kid-friendly flavored products back in December? Isaac, a high-school student council president, spoke about his mother whom he lost to a tobacco-related illness. Casia h talked about her grandmother, a revered leader known as the ‘moral compass’ of Denver Public Schools, who called out institutional racism. She also succumbed to illness from tobacco. Rafael read online about the proposal to end flavored tobacco sales and made his way to city council meetings to show support. These local teens know how easy it’s been to access flavored vapes, menthol cigarettes, and other candy-tasting tobacco products. They know the tobacco industry has one goal – to attract kids, addict them to nicotine and create lifelong customers. During the council’s final vote, several members shared their own stories of addiction and loss because of tobacco. Now the tobacco industry is trying to reverse this enormous victory. The industry is backing a battle against all Denver residents, collecting signatures for a ballot issue that would ask voters to reverse the Council’s vote to end the sale of flavored tobacco and nicotine products. To be clear, the Council’s nearly unanimous decision was the right one. Flavored tobacco products are intentionally designed to hook kids on nicotine, creating addictions that can lead to a lifetime of use – and guaranteed profits for tobacco companies. Tobacco shop’s and the industry’s attempt to repeal Council action isn’t just poor policy – it’s a cynical ploy to use small business owners as the face of a campaign to keep Denver kids trying – and buying – nicotine. Nearly 90% of youth e-cigarette users use kid-friendly flavored products like cotton candy, gummy bear, pink lemonade, and bubblegum. They are more addictive than ever, with some e-cigarettes containing as much or more nicotine than 200 cigarettes in one device. When the new law is implemented this month and these products finally come off store shelves, Denver will be taking a tremendous step toward decreasing tobacco use. This is particularly important in communities that have been targeted and exploited by Big Tobacco for decades, including Black, Latino and Indigenous Americans, the LGBTQ+ community and immigrant populations. Tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable death and disease among all Americans, but Black Americans suffer the greatest burden of tobacco-related mortality, with smoking claiming more than 50,000 Black lives every year. Menthol cigarettes, which have been aggressively targeted to Black communities for decades, are the leading driver of tobacco-related health disparities. They are easier to start, more addictive, harder to quit and one of the main reasons kids start using cigarettes. Recent polling has shown that nearly two-thirds of Denver voters support ending the sale of flavored tobacco. More than 100 organizations endorsed the ordinance, including the Board of Denver Public Schools, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Denver Health and Hospital Authority, Kaiser Permanente and the University of Colorado School of Medicine. The ballot measure proponents may be small business owners, but just like their large corporate counterparts, they want to keep selling products they know are addictive. They also know nearly all of these products lack marketing authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Recent data shows that 86.3% of e-cigarette sales, the vast majority of which are flavored, are unauthorized and therefore illegal products. The tobacco industry cannot be trusted. Despite overwhelming evidence of the damage their products cause, the industry continues to hook young people and circumvent existing restrictions with glossy packaging and enticing flavors. They’ve disguised the dangers of addiction while making billions. Denver’s councilmembers and Mayor Mike Johnston should be commended for protecting kids and advancing health equity by removing flavored tobacco from store shelves. I’m confident that if this measure makes it to the ballot, Denver voters will resoundingly agree to protect Denver’s kids by voting to keep the lifesaving ordinance in place. Jodi Radke is the Rocky Mountains/Great Plains Regional Director for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.   Sign up for Sound Off to get a weekly roundup of our columns, editorials and more. To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail. ...read more read less