Image via Wikipedia Commons
Article
Aspen joins growing list of cities to ban the sale of flavored nicotine products
Add Aspen, Colo., to the growing list of cities banning the sale of flavored nicotine products in an effort to curb what some experts are calling an epidemic of teen “vaping.”
“It is, I think, our duty on council and in government to protect public health, and this ban, which I fully support, not only protects youth but tries to address addiction by adults,” Councilman Ward Hauenstein said during the council meeting, according to the Denver Post.
The paper reports 37 other cities in the U.S., including San Francisco, Chicago and Minneapolis, have passed sweeping restrictions on the sale of flavored tobacco products. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the use of e-cigarettes is unsafe, addictive and can lead to a variety of health problems for users.
Last November, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported Colorado teenagers had the highest rates of e-cigarette use in the country, CBS Denver reports. Several school officials, the American Heart Association, the Colorado School of Public Health and Aspen Valley Hospital all sent letters in support of the ban.
Aspen’s prohibition on selling favored cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes and vaping products will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2020, the Denver Post reports.
