By Jon Caldara | Commentary, Complete Colorado
Of all places to find a growing citizens’ rebellion against the nanny state, who’d guess it’s happening in woke Denver?
Take note — if Denverites can claw back a little freedom from their elite, it can happen in your city too.
In this city of 70 breweries, 2,000 liquor establishments, some 300 cannabis dispensaries and now mushroom clinics, it was pure poetry when the city council and Mayor Mike Johnston passed a ban on adults buying flavored tobacco and nicotine products, you know, for the kids.
A hint of cherry in your beer — sure. Peach-infused vodka — bring it on! Any bit of flavor in the product you’re using to help you quit smoking — a perversion that must be stamped out.
I imagine the city council members who voted to disempower people from their own bodily autonomy also spout “my body, my choice.”
The cognitive dissonance required for this type of selective maternalistic fascism is monumental. After all, those elite took away the personal decisions of 730,000 Denverites because, well, they know what’s right for others.
What they don’t say aloud, but we hear perfectly, is, “your body, our choice.” And constituents are finding that offensive.
Pushing back at the ballot
Fortunately, some feisty business owners who didn’t appreciate potentially watching their shop be put out of business as pot shops spring up around them decided to do something. They delivered more than 17,000 signatures to repeal this bit of intolerance. And they’re starting to get some interesting allies.
Referendum 310 on the Denver ballot this fall repeals the ban on new smoking cessation products like Zyn and old favorites like Swisher Sweets cigars, which back in my day had to be smoked by every grandfather under penalty of law. Kids today just can’t get enough of them (if not obvious, that’s sarcasm).
Some progressives are understanding woke nannyism is driving people away from the Democratic Party.
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