STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1445-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: S.B. No. 2175

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 2175, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO DISPOSABLE ELECTRONIC SMOKING DEVICES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to prohibit the sale, offer for sale, or distribution for sale of any disposable electronic smoking device in the State, beginning January 1, 2027.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health; Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaiʻi; Hawaii COPD Coalition; We Are One, Inc.; Hawaiʻi Public Health Association; Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition; Hina Mauka; Hawaiʻi Children's Action Network Speaks!; Friends of Kamalani & Lydgate Park; Go dehp dba Island Health.VIP; AlohaCare; Hawaiʻi Health & Harm Reduction Center; Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaiʻi Youth Council; Hawaiʻi Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics; University of Hawaiʻi Student Health Advisory Council; Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Retail Merchants of Hawaii; Hawaii Smokers Alliance; and two individuals.

Your Committee finds that between 2017 and 2022, disposable electronic smoking devices (ESD) tripled in nicotine strength, quintupled in e-liquid capacity, and dropped nearly seventy percent in price. Furthermore, between February 2020 and September 2025, the proportion of total ESD unit sales attributable to disposable ESDs increased from twenty-six percent to 56.5 percent. Your Committee further finds that disposable ESDs are cheap, widely available, and easy to use and often come in candy or fruity flavors, making them a popular choice for teenagers and youth. However, because of a lack of appropriate handling guidelines, most individuals throw their disposable ESDs into the trash, which allows for microplastics and harmful chemicals inside these products to leach into the environment. This measure is intended to protect the public health and safeguard the State's communities and natural resources by prohibiting the sale, offer for sale, and distribution for sale of disposable electronic smoking devices.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that the sale, offer for sale, or distribution for sale of between one to twenty disposable electronic smoking devices constitutes a single violation;

(2) Amending the definition of "disposable electronic smoking device";

(3) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2175, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2175, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

____________________________

GREGG TAKAYAMA, Chair