Hawaii Considers Ban on Cigarette Sales

February 05, 2019
NACS
Smoking laws are already tough, but lawmakers are looking to ban sales outright by 2024.
HONOLULU – Hawaii became the first state in the country to ban the sale of cigarettes to anyone under 21 in 2016. But a new proposal in the state legislature could make laws even tougher.
Lawmakers hope to ban cigarettes altogether by 2024 with House Bill 1509. The ban would take effect progressively over the years, starting with raising the minimum age to 30 in 2020. By 2022 no one under 50 could buy cigarettes, and two years later no one under 100 would be able to purchase them. The measure does not include e-cigarettes.
Hawaii News Now says it’s a long shot, and reports that the bill has passed its first reading and has been assigned to committees. But as it’s making national headlines, it’s likely to get a hearing date eventually.
“The cigarette is considered the deadliest artifact in human history,” write the authors of the bill, two Democrats and one Republican, in their preamble to the measure. “The cigarette is an unreasonably dangerous and defective productive, killing half of its long-term users.”
Just 13% of Hawaii adults are smokers, which is less than the national average at 17%. The state also has a high cigarette tax at $3.20 a pack.