THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	468
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
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 death in the United States and in Hawaii. Recent years have brought a precipitous increase in consumer sales of electronic smoking devices, sometimes called "vapes", and one inhalation of these products can contain many times more nicotine than a conventional cigarette. Electronic smoking devices have played a major role in increased rates of youth nicotine addiction, which had been previously on the decline.

This increased youth tobacco use prompted Hawaii to adopt laws to increase the minimum smoking age to twenty-one years old and treat electronic cigarettes in the same manner as the state treats conventional cigarettes for purposes of clean indoor air laws. The State and the County of Hawaii, County of Maui, and City and County of Honolulu have also adopted policies to ban smoking, including electronic cigarette use, at state and county beaches and parks.

In 2018, in order to ensure uniform regulations on tobacco

sales, the legislature passed Act 206, Session Laws of Hawaii, 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 finds that since the Act's passage, youth tobacco use has continued to increase to 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 2019 Hawaii Youth Risk Behavior Survey also indicates that eighteen per cent of middle school students and thirty-one per cent of high school students currently vape.

The legislature further finds that in order to end this youth vaping epidemic, the State must work in concert with youth, parents, and educational institutions, and 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 repeal existing statutory language that:

(1) Declares that the sale of cigarettes, tobacco products, and electronic devices are a statewide concern; and

(2) Preempts all local ordinances and regulations that regulate the sale of cigarettes, tobacco products, and electronic devices.

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

Description:

Repeals existing statutory language that: (1) declares that the sale of cigarettes, tobacco products, and electronic devices are a statewide concern; and (2) preempts all local ordinances and regulations that regulate the sale of cigarettes, tobacco products, and electronic devices.

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