Smoking laws in Colorado ban lighting up, vaping, or using marijuana in nearly every indoor public space and workplace in the state. The Clean Indoor Air Act took effect July 1, 2006, and a 2019 amendment expanded its definition of “smoking” to cover electronic devices like vape pens and e-cigarettes alongside traditional tobacco and marijuana.1Colorado Secretary of State. Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act 2024 Fines for smoking where it’s prohibited start at $200 and climb with each repeat offense in a calendar year.
Where Indoor Smoking Is Prohibited
The Clean Indoor Air Act’s list of covered places is long. It names restaurants, bars, workplaces regardless of size, grocery stores, gyms, hospitals, hotels, casinos, bowling alleys, courtrooms, libraries, museums, theaters, airports, schools, and the common areas of apartment buildings, condominiums, nursing homes, and assisted-living facilities.2Justia. Colorado Code 25-14-204 – Smoking Prohibited in Certain Places Government-operated buses, vans, trains, taxicabs, and limousines for hire are also covered.
The ban reaches the entryways of every building on that list.2Justia. Colorado Code 25-14-204 – Smoking Prohibited in Certain Places The state statute doesn’t specify a distance, so the size of that zone often comes down to local ordinance.
The word “smoking” here does not mean only cigarettes. It covers inhaling, exhaling, burning, or carrying any lighted or heated tobacco or plant product intended for inhalation, marijuana included. It also covers the use of electronic smoking devices.1Colorado Secretary of State. Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act 2024 Vape pens are treated the same as cigarettes for purposes of the ban.
Places the Ban Does Not Reach
A handful of settings sit outside the indoor smoking ban:
- Private homes, residences, and personal vehicles, unless the space is being used for childcare or daycare, or the vehicle is carrying children or healthcare patients.
- Cigar-tobacco bars and retail tobacco businesses, subject to the entryway rules.
- Outdoor areas of businesses, since the state law only governs indoor spaces. Patios and sidewalk seating are left to city and county rules.
- Privately hired limousines, though not taxis or public-hire limos.
- Nonresidential farm and ranch buildings on operations with less than $500,000 in annual gross income.
- Licensed marijuana hospitality businesses, but only for marijuana. Tobacco smoking is prohibited even there.
Airports used to allow designated smoking rooms, but that exception has been repealed. Airports now sit on the prohibited list with no active exception.3Justia. Colorado Code 25-14-205 – Exceptions to Smoking Restrictions And even when a workplace falls into one of the exempt categories, any employee who asks for a smoke-free work area must be given one.2Justia. Colorado Code 25-14-204 – Smoking Prohibited in Certain Places
Marijuana Rules Are Stricter, Not Looser
Legal recreational marijuana in Colorado does not mean legal public marijuana. The Clean Indoor Air Act’s definition of “smoking” includes marijuana, so every indoor place that bans tobacco also bans cannabis.1Colorado Secretary of State. Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act 2024 Marijuana use is also illegal in outdoor public places: sidewalks, parks, ski resorts, concert venues, and the common areas of apartment buildings.4Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division. Laws About Cannabis Use
The one public venue where marijuana smoking is legal is a licensed marijuana hospitality business that has been authorized by its local government.3Justia. Colorado Code 25-14-205 – Exceptions to Smoking Restrictions Otherwise the safest legal place to consume marijuana is a private residence.
Fines for Smoking Where It’s Banned
Smoking or vaping in a prohibited place is a class 2 petty offense. The fine schedule escalates within a calendar year:
- First violation: $200
- Second violation: $300
- Third and later violations: $500
Each day a continuing violation occurs counts as a separate offense, which is how the numbers can pile up on a business that ignores the law.5Otero County. Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act 2019 Update Where a local ordinance sets higher fines than state law, the stricter penalty controls, and some Colorado cities charge substantially more for outdoor smoking violations in parks or dining areas.
Minimum Age Is 21
Colorado prohibits providing any cigarette, tobacco product, or nicotine product to anyone under 21. The definition covers anything containing nicotine or tobacco that is meant to be inhaled or applied to the skin, including e-cigarettes, cigars, and pipes.6Justia. Colorado Code 18-13-121 – Furnishing Cigarettes, Tobacco Products, or Nicotine Products to Persons Under Twenty-One Years of Age
Sellers have to request and examine a government-issued photo ID before completing a sale. Skipping the ID check is itself a violation, separate from actually selling to an underage buyer. Each violation is a civil infraction carrying a $200 fine.6Justia. Colorado Code 18-13-121 – Furnishing Cigarettes, Tobacco Products, or Nicotine Products to Persons Under Twenty-One Years of Age
Local Ordinances Can Go Further
The Clean Indoor Air Act sets a statewide floor, not a ceiling. Cities and counties can and do impose stricter rules, and where both apply the stricter one controls. An owner of a place that is otherwise exempt can also voluntarily post no-smoking signs, which gives the property the same legal status as a prohibited location under the Act.7Justia. Colorado Code 25-14-206 – Other Applicable Laws and Voluntary Prohibition
The practical effect is that the rules shift from one city to the next. Some municipalities ban smoking in public parks, outdoor dining areas, or on downtown sidewalks. Others set specific setback distances from building entrances that go beyond the state entryway rule. Before you assume state law tells the whole story, check your city or county ordinances.
Federal Buildings and Public Housing
State law doesn’t govern federal property, and federal rules are generally stricter. The General Services Administration bans smoking inside all space owned, rented, or leased by the executive branch, courtyards included. Outdoor smoking is prohibited within 25 feet of any doorway or air intake duct on federal property, marked by signs reading “No Smoking Within 25 Feet of Doorway.”8GSA. Federal Management Regulation Part 102-74 – Facility Management
Federally assisted public housing follows a separate mandate. Since July 30, 2018, every public housing authority must maintain a smoke-free policy covering all living units, interior common areas, and outdoor space within 25 feet of public housing buildings and administrative offices. The ban covers cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and hookahs. Housing authorities can designate outdoor smoking areas beyond the 25-foot zone or make entire grounds smoke-free.9eCFR. 24 CFR Part 965 Subpart G – Smoke-Free Public Housing The federal public housing rule doesn’t specifically address electronic smoking devices, only products that ignite tobacco, so whether vaping is allowed in public housing depends on the individual housing authority’s own policy.