Colorado Vape Laws

Colorado Vape Age and ID Rules

Colorado vape age and ID rules start at 21: it's illegal to sell cigarettes, tobacco or nicotine products, vapes included, to anyone younger, a rule Colorado set with HB20-1001 on July 14, 2020. Federal law has set the same age since December 2019.

Colorado's ID rule is stricter than the federal one. Shops have to check a valid government photo ID for anyone who appears to be under 50, and every store has to post a sign saying so. The federal rule, from the FDA, only requires an ID check for anyone under 30. Employees who are 18 to 20 can work in a shop and handle the products, but no one under 18 can sell them.

Colorado Flavor Bans: Denver, Boulder and 13 More

Colorado flavor bans in Denver, Boulder and 13 more places are local rules, because the state has none of its own. A statewide ban, HB22-1064, died in a Senate committee in May 2022, and a 2024 bill to let counties ban flavors, SB24-022, died too. No flavor bill made it in 2025 or 2026.

Fifteen cities, towns and counties restrict flavored tobacco or vapes, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids list from May 2026: Aspen, Boulder (vapes only), Breckenridge, Carbondale, Denver, Dillon, Eagle, Edgewater, Frisco, Glenwood Springs, Golden, Keystone (vapes only), Pitkin County (outside its towns), Silverthorne and Snowmass Village.

Denver's ban is the biggest. Since January 1, 2026, Denver shops can't sell flavored tobacco or nicotine products, menthol included, and the only exemption is hookah tobacco (Denver Department of Public Health and Environment). Voters kept it with about 70 percent of the vote in November 2025, and a court dismissed a vape shop challenge in June 2026. Boulder has banned flavored vapes and e-liquids since 2020, and the four Summit County towns, Keystone and Eagle started their bans on January 1, 2026.

Colorado Vape Taxes

Colorado vape taxes come in two layers. The nicotine products tax that voters approved in 2020 as Proposition EE is paid by the distributor as a share of the maker's list price: 30 percent in 2021, 35 percent in 2022, 50 percent from 2023, 56 percent since July 1, 2024, and 62 percent from July 1, 2027 (Colorado Department of Revenue). You won't see it on the receipt, because it's already in the shelf price.

Sales tax goes on top at the register: the state's 2.9 percent plus city, county and district taxes. Some towns add their own nicotine taxes; Boulder charges 40 percent on vape devices. Colorado's minimum price law covers cigarettes only, so there is no minimum price for vapes.

Colorado Vape Shop Licenses and Distance Rules

Colorado vape shop licenses and distance rules decide where a shop can open. Licenses have been required since July 1, 2021: every store that sells nicotine products needs a state retailer license for each location from the Liquor and Tobacco Enforcement Division, at $400 a year, and a local license first where its city or county has one (Colorado tobacco code). Selling without one brings fines of $1,000 and up.

The state won't license a new shop within 500 feet of a school, and Denver's own rule is 1,000 feet from schools, city recreation centers and city pools. Shops that were already selling before those rules are exempt. State law also bars vape ads that can be seen from outside the store.

Which Vapes Colorado Shops Can Sell

Which vapes Colorado shops can sell isn't limited by a state list: Colorado has no vape directory law. A 2024 bill, HB24-1356, started out with one, but the version signed in June 2024 only made selling vapes to underage buyers a deceptive trade practice. That sets Colorado apart from states such as Pennsylvania and Iowa, where only listed products may be sold.

Federal law is stricter on paper. The FDA says only the 48 e-cigarettes it has authorized, all from Glas, JUUL, Logic, NJOY and Vuse, may be lawfully sold in the US (FDA list). Popular disposables such as Geek Bar are not on it. In May 2026 the FDA authorized its first fruit-flavored pods, from Glas, but they're still flavored products under Denver's ban.

Hemp THC Vapes in Colorado

Hemp THC vapes in Colorado have been kept out of smoke and vape shops since 2023. Under C.R.S. 25-5-427, from SB23-271, intoxicating cannabinoids such as delta 8, delta 10, HHC and THC-O can only be sold inside the licensed marijuana system, and hemp products with more than 1.25 milligrams of THC per serving are 21 and over. Colorado's 2025 and 2026 hemp bills died, so the state's rules haven't changed since.

The federal hemp change goes further. From December 11, 2026, hemp products with more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container stop counting as hemp under federal law, even where Colorado's looser limit allows them. Here's what the hemp THC ban changes.

Buying and Shipping Vapes in Colorado

Buying and shipping vapes in Colorado follows a simple rule: buy in person, or from a licensed Colorado shop that delivers. State law bans shipping or delivering vapes straight to consumers, with one exception: a licensed Colorado retailer with a $250 state delivery permit can deliver, using its own employee who is 21 or older and checks your photo ID. Online sellers in other states can't legally ship vapes to Colorado addresses.

Federal rules add to that. Vapes have been banned from the US mail since October 21, 2021 (Federal Register), and anyone who ships them another way has to check ID at the door under the PACT Act.

Vape Disposal in Colorado

Vape disposal in Colorado means keeping used vapes out of the trash and the recycling cart: their lithium batteries can start fires, according to EPA guidance that the state health department points to. Take them to household hazardous waste collection instead.

Denver's waste directory says to pull out a removable battery and recycle it at a battery drop-off, and to send vapes with built-in batteries, as most disposables have, to hazardous waste. Denver residents get one hazardous waste pickup at their door a year for a $15 co-pay. Statewide, the Clean Harbors site at 9775 E. 97th Place in Henderson takes household hazardous waste from any Colorado resident without an appointment; call ahead to check what it accepts.

Colorado Vape Law FAQ

The Colorado vape law FAQ below covers the questions shoppers ask before they head out.