The Aurora City Council has passed a sweeping new ordinance targeting the sale of drug paraphernalia and certain legal substances increasingly used to get high. In a unanimous vote Monday, the council approved the measure, which aims to close loopholes exploited by retailers and reduce open-air drug use in the city.
“This ordinance addresses the unchecked availability of drug paraphernalia and unregulated psychoactive items that are widely sold in vape shops, gas stations, liquor stores, and convenience stores throughout Aurora,” wrote Trevor Vaughn, head of the city’s excise and licenses division, in a memo to the council. Vaughn added that areas with a high density of these businesses often experience higher rates of crime and public drug use.
According to Vaughn, city staff frequently encounter the sale of items like meth pipes, crack kits, and tiny baggies commonly associated with drug packaging. Another growing concern: vape stores selling flavored nitrous oxide canisters, often accompanied by balloons meant for recreational inhalation. While marketed for culinary purposes, their real-world use raises safety and legal concerns.
New Kratom Regulations Now in Effect
The ordinance also brings Aurora in line with Colorado’s new state standards for kratom, a controversial herbal product. The law prohibits the sale of kratom to anyone under 21 and bans any kratom product that is adulterated, appeals to children (like those packaged as candy), contains high levels of 7-hydroxymitragynine, or is designed to be smoked or vaped.
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Other Psychoactive Substances Flagged
Additional products flagged by city officials include:
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Amanita muscaria: A hallucinogenic mushroom that lacks psilocybin but is still considered unsafe. Although the state health department classifies it as adulterated, enforcement does not extend to the retail level.
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Mad honey and hemp-derived THC: Both are legally sold yet possess psychoactive effects that raise concerns among public health officials.
Council Sponsors Say It’s About Community Protection
Councilmembers Alison Coombs and Curtis Gardner introduced the ordinance to safeguard public health and limit access to harmful substances sold under the guise of legality.
“We don’t want stores exploiting legal gray areas to introduce harmful substances into our neighborhoods,” Coombs said prior to the vote.
While Aurora has outlawed the retail sale of items like meth and crack pipes, these tools are still accessible through harm reduction groups in nearby Denver. Under state law, individuals in possession of such items cannot be prosecuted if they received them from authorized harm reduction programs.
