Market & legal data in the tobacco alternatives sector in Hawaii

18th April 2024: US - Hawaii: Honolulu mayor Rick Blangiardi has signed Bill 1 banning the sale of herbal cigarettes to anyone under 21 years old. It will require posting a sign on or near vending machines selling the products that bears the statement: “The sale of herbal cigarettes to persons under 21 is prohibited”. The bill says: “Herbal cigarettes are made of herbs such as damiana, ginseng, catnip, and mint.” Honolulu is one of the first localities that specifically limits the sale of herbal cigarettes to under-21s. It is a city-county with a total population of 1m.
22nd January 2024: US - Hawaii: Senate Bill 2691 has been introduced. It would prohibit the sale of flavoured tobacco products and mislabelled e-liquids that contain nicotine.
9th October 2023: US - Hawaii: The Honolulu City Council has passed a bill that would prohibit the sale of flavoured tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. Bill 46 would make it illegal for any retailer to “sell or offer for sale a flavored tobacco product; display, market or advertise flavored tobacco products for sale; or mislabel e-liquids as nicotine-free”. The bill heads to the mayor for enactment. The City and County of Honolulu has a total population of 1m.
22nd August 2023: US - Hawaii: Honolulu Council chair Tommy Waters said recently that the proposed flavour ban on tobacco products and e-cigs in Honolulu is "a part of a larger issue, which involves the counties being preempted from regulating the sale of tobacco products," media reports. “It is my position that the state must either enact sufficient legislation to protect our keiki [children], or provide the counties with the necessary authority to address the issue at the local level," he added. Jill Tamashiro, a public health educator at the state’s Department of Health, said: “It’s the ninth year it’s been taken up at the state level but not passed, and so we appreciate the county’s consideration of this measure." Jasmin Rios, who opposes the bill, said that the measure would be a detriment to retailers. The city and county of Honolulu has a total population of 1m.
2nd March 2023: US - Hawaii: The House Committee on Finance has recommended that House Bill 551 be passed unamended. The bill would prohibit the sale of flavoured tobacco products and the mislabelling of e-liquids as nicotine-free.
22nd February 2023: US - Hawaii: The Senate Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection has recommended that Senate Bill 1447 be passed with amendments. The bill would leave counties the right to regulate the sale of tobacco and e-cigarette products, as long as ordinances are not in direct conflict with state law or less stringent.
3rd February 2023: US - Hawaii: House Bill 860 has been introduced, which would raise the minimum legal age to purchase and possess tobacco products and electronic smoking devices from 21 to 25.
24th January 2023: US - Hawaii: House Bill (HB) 1076 has been introduced. This bill would ban the sale of flavoured tobacco products and mislabelled e-liquid products. Any nicotine-containing products and e-cigarettes would be included in the definition of tobacco products for the purposes of this bill.
18th January 2023: US - Hawaii: Senate Bill 148 has been introduced, which would prohibit the sale or furnishing of a tobacco product or e-cigarette to anyone born on or after 1st January 2003.
15th July 2022: US - Hawaii: House Bill (HB) 1570 has been vetoed by the governor. The version as it currently stands would ban the sale of flavoured tobacco products and deem it unlawful to mislabel as nicotine-free any e-liquid product that contains nicotine. The first versions of the bill explicitly banned the sale of flavoured synthetic nicotine products, but the current version after amendments does not.
4th May 2022: US - Hawaii: House Bill 1570 passed its final reading yesterday on a 36-15 vote. The bill to ban the sale of all flavoured tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, combustible menthol cigarettes and flavoured cigars, has now been passed by both chambers of the Legislature and requires only the signature of governor David Ige to become law.
2nd May 2022: US - Hawaii: Many bills are currently sitting in the legislative process that would ban flavoured tobacco products. Among them, House Bill 1570 has passed both the House and the Senate, but the House seems to disagree with some amendments and so it may still take a while. The ban of flavoured tobacco products is a current political debate: representatives supporting the bill state they are only banning flavours and not vaping, whereas shop owners state that flavours are 99.9% of the business.

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