The Hawaiʻi County Council is considering a so-called “trigger ban” on flavored tobacco.
The council this week unanimously voted to move forward with Bill 102, which would ban the selling, offering or advertising of flavored tobacco within the county.
One important goal of the bill is to stop stores from selling tobacco to minors.
Councilmember Matt Kaneali’i-Kleinfelder said he also wants to target those who buy tobacco for children.
“What I was hearing was really disheartening: 75-90% of the kids in high schools have (tobacco products), smoke them, use them. That bugs me because these are kids who are under 21 who are getting them from somewhere, from someone without any kind of consequence, and that bugs me,” Kaneali’i-Kleinfelder said at a recent county meeting.
If the bill becomes law, it would not become effective immediately. Instead, it would “trigger” several weeks after a possible repeal or suspension of a state-level ban.
In 2018 the Legislature passed a statewide tobacco ban known as Act 206, which superseded county-level regulations.
In October, the City and County of Honolulu created its own trigger ban of flavored tobacco. The city’s goal was in part to ensure that a county-level ban was set in case Act 206 was no longer active. It also aimed to send a message to the state that some prefer having county-level control of tobacco regulations.
Another hearing for the bill is planned to be scheduled in the future.
