THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	208
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to the regulation of tobacco products.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable deaths in Hawaii and throughout the United States. Recent years have brought a precipitous increase in the consumer sales of electronic smoking devices, including the devices sometimes called vapes. One inhalation from these electronic smoking devices can contain many times more nicotine than a conventional cigarette. Electronic smoking devices have played a major role in increasing the rate of youth nicotine addiction, which had previously been on the decline.

The legislature notes that youths' increased tobacco use prompted the State to raise the legal smoking age to twenty-one years of age and to treat electronic cigarettes in the same manner as conventional cigarettes for purposes of clean indoor air laws. The State and the counties of Hawaii, Maui, and the City and County of Honolulu also banned smoking, including smoking electronic cigarettes, at state and county beaches and parks.

The legislature also notes that in 2018, to ensure uniform regulations on tobacco sales, the legislature passed Act 206, which, in part, declared the sale of cigarettes, tobacco products, and electronic smoking devices a matter of statewide concern and nullified any existing local ordinances or policies that restricted the sale of these products. However, the legislature recognizes that since Act 206 was passed, youth tobacco use has continued to increase and has reached epidemic levels. According to the 2019 Hawaii Youth Risk Behavior Survey, thirty-one per cent of middle school students and forty‑eight per cent of public high school students had tried electronic smoking devices. The survey also indicated that eighteen per cent of middle school students and thirty-one per cent of high school students regularly used vapes.

The legislature believes that, to end this youth vaping epidemic, the State must work in concert with youth, parents, and educational institutions and that laws must be changed at all levels of government to establish reasonable restrictions on the sale of and access to these addictive products.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to reauthorize the counties to enact restrictions on the sales of tobacco products, including electronic smoking devices, by repealing section 328J‑11.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

SECTION 2. Section 328J-11.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

["[§328J-11.5] Statewide concern. (a) Sales of cigarettes, tobacco products, and electronic smoking devices are a statewide concern. It is the intent of the legislature to regulate the sale of cigarettes, tobacco products, and electronic smoking devices in a uniform and exclusive manner.

(b) All local ordinances or regulations that regulate the sale of cigarettes, tobacco products, and electronic smoking devices are preempted, and existing local laws and regulations conflicting with this chapter are null and void.

(c) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to limit a county's authority under section 328J-15."]

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________
	By Request

Report Title:

Hawaii State Association of Counties Package; Tobacco Products; Electronic Smoking Devices; County Regulation; Repeal

Description:

Repeals section 328J-11.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.