Aspen city council members voted Monday night to ban all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes and flavored chewing tobacco.
The move follows a decision last month to prohibit the sales of flavored e-cigarettes. That ordinance was amended Monday to ban all flavored e-cigarette and tobacco products.
Retailers have voluntarily pulled e-cigarettes and vaping products from Aspen shelves after the city’s “Tobacco 21” initiative in 2017.
The stricter regulations were passed on the heels of last months decision to only ban flavored e-cigarette products.
The ban’s goal is to limit youth access to flavored products - which studies show often hook young users. Several Aspen High School students spoke at the meeting in favor of the ban.
This was the last meeting before Aspen’s new council members were sworn in. The ban goes into effect in January 2020.