Aurora school, city leaders and activists call for citywide ban on flavored nicotine

AURORA | Aurora school leaders, community activists and others gathered in Aurora Thursday to call for a citywide ban on flavored tobacco products in what they said is a critical need to protect the health of children.

“Flavored tobacco products are used by the tobacco industry to aggressively market to kids,” Dr. Oswaldo Grenardo, a local family medicine physician, said at the press event at Aurora Public Schools district headquarters. He said tobacco companies have “long targeted” Black, Latino, and LGBTQ communities with their menthol products, “hooking them for life”. 

The press event was organized by the Flavors Hook Kids Aurora Coalition, part of a wider network of advocates across the state urging local governments to enact bans on flavored nicotine products.

Other speakers pushing for a ban on sales included Angela Garland, a member of the Cherry Creek School District Board of Education, and Thomas Mayes, President of the Aurora Branch of the NAACP. 

Educators and community activists in Aurora say flavored smokeless nicotine products, such as e-cigarettes and pouches, have had a detrimental impact on Aurora’s youth. 

National studies show that teens who vape report higher rates of wheezing, shortness of breath and a reduced ability to tolerate exercise as well as diminished academic performance, according to recent reporting by the Associated Press.

Elijah Solis, a 10th grader at Hinkley High School, told the Sentinel that he’s seen kids in elementary school exposed to flavored nicotine products and that has led them down a path to addiction.

“Growing up in Aurora, I’ve witnessed substance abuse everywhere around me,” Solis said. “Since second grade, I’ve seen kids around me smoking in school, [that’s] exponentially increased…”

Solis said he wanted to see a ban on flavored tobacco and nicotine products.

“There’s a reason why nine out of ten kids use flavored tobacco products; it’s because (these products) are targeted to appeal to them. We have companies like Geek Bars producing flavors with names like Banana Taffy Freeze, and the vape itself being space-themed,” Solis said. 

He’s said he’s witnessed the adverse mental and physical health effects on his peers, he said, such as teens “greening out” from overexposure to THC or symptoms of withdrawal and dependence on smokeless tobacco products. 

Michael Giles, superintendent of Aurora Public Schools, said he, too, would support citywide banning the sale of flavored tobacco products in Aurora. 

“In APS, it is our mission to create opportunities for every student to reach their full potential. The responsibility extends far beyond just academics,” Giles said. “It includes protecting students from the products and the practices that threaten their health, that threaten their well-being and their future.” 

“We know flavored nicotine products are a direct threat to that mission. We know that nicotine can harm parts of the adolescent brain that are responsible for attention, for learning, for mood and impulse control,” said Giles, adding that early nicotine use “primes the brain” for early addiction to many other drugs. 

Giles told reporters that tobacco companies “intentionally target” sales to children through flavored smokeless tobacco products. 

Nicotine companies have routinely pushed back against the allegation, saying their products are critical tools to get cigarette smokers off of tobacco smoke. A variety of national studies show that the products have been successful in many cases of getting people away from their smoking addictions.

Grenardo echoed Giles’ concerns, sharing that he lost his father, a smoker, to lung cancer. 

He went on to say that flavored e-cigarettes deliver “massive doses of nicotine that can quickly alter a young person’s brain, their lives, and their education.”

Additionally, Grenardo warned that many smokeless nicotine products can expose children to toxic chemicals like formaldehyde and lead. 

He urged the city council to institute a citywide ban on the sale of flavored-nicotine products. 

Denver banned the sale of such products this year. Other metro cities with bans include Edgewater, Golden, Boulder, Aspen, Breckenridge, Carbondale, Dillon, Eagle, Frisco, Glenwood Springs, Keystone, Silverthorne, Snowmass Village, and Pitkin County.

Aurora City Councilmember Gianina Horton told reporters that she was “listening to the educational professionals, the medical professionals, the community organizations, and families” in Aurora on this issue. 

Horton touted the city council’s creation of tobacco retail license requirements for stores that sell smokeless tobacco and nicotine products, while acknowledging that “kids continue to have access to nicotine products.” 

Some activists say that a ban in Denver only pushes juveniles and others into Aurora to make the purchases.

Horton told the Sentinel that the City Council was considering additional policies aimed at curtailing youth access to flavored nicotine and smokeless tobacco products. 

“There are a lot of considerations when it comes to flavored tobacco,” Horton said, adding that she was encouraged by continued youth and community activism on the subject. 

Horton acknowledged that there are businesses in Aurora that “benefit from the sale of nicotine” and that the city council was particularly friendly to a nicotine pouch factory that was built in East Aurora, even providing financial incentives. 

Horton wouldn’t commit to carrying a city bill to ban flavored nicotine or a measure that would pose the question to voters.