The Unintended Consequences of Flavor Bans

This November, when Denver voters go to the polls to decide whether to keep or repeal the city’s ban on flavored nicotine products, I hope they’ll keep a few things in mind. 

While flavor and nicotine bans may have good intentions, there is real-world evidence suggesting that such bans may have unintended consequences— most notably, increasing cigarette smoking rates among adults and youth alike and creating a black market that is extremely dangerous for consumers. 

Nicotine pouches and other flavored nicotine products are alternatives to cigarettes. Studies show that flavored nicotine products are more successful in helping smokers to quit. One survey of over 20,000 vapers found that those who initiated vaping with flavored e-cigarettes or switched from tobacco to non-tobacco flavors were significantly more likely to quit smoking. Another recent survey of more than 1,500 nicotine pouch users also found that nearly half started using pouches to quit smoking, and that for 71 percent of them, flavor was a key driver in switching. More notably, over 90 percent of them reported improved well-being after moving from cigarettes to pouches.

Flavors help smokers differentiate between products, and flavor bans force them to use products that remind them of exactly what they’re trying to avoid. Researchers from the Yale School of Public Health used retail sales data to assess the effect of e-cigarette flavor bans on the sales of both vapes and cigarettes across 44 US states, and the results showed that the sale of cigarettes actually increased as the sales of vapes declined. For every 0.7ml vape pod not sold due to the restrictions, 12 additional cigarettes were purchased. Additionally, research indicates that when the prices of e-cigarettes increase, youth vaping falls, but youth smoking rises. E-cigarettes and cigarettes function as substitutes, and health policies cannot ignore this glaring fact in pursuit of a utopian reality in which youth have no access to any substances. The idea of “kid-friendly flavors” is disingenuous — taking adult products away from adults will never solve the youth access issue, only strict age verification and enforcement does.

Flavor bans also push consumers to a black market of unsafe products that haven’t been tested or regulated. When legal access to flavored nicotine products is restricted, illicit markets and unregulated sources inevitably emerge. These unregulated products pose significant health risks, as they often lack quality control, contain harmful additives or are misrepresented in terms of nicotine content. The proliferation of black-market vapes following bans in states like Massachusetts and California highlights the dangers of such policies. When flavor bans are enacted, smokers and consumers lose, and the only people who win are bad, unregulated actors.  

Smoking cessation is not an all-or-nothing proposition. If the goal is to improve public health, the focus should shift from prohibitionist policies toward pragmatic, science-based approaches that genuinely reduce smoking-related harm.

Voters should remember this November that flavored nicotine products exist to provide alternatives to those who smoke, and we should all want to make that easier.