Want to pass strict tobacco laws in Hawaiʻi? Let the counties do it. That’s what health care experts, students and even county councilmembers are asking the state to do.
County councils were the lead authorities to pass tobacco regulations until 2018 when the state Legislature passed Act 206, a tobacco law that preempts and nullifies county-level regulations and gives state lawmakers that authority.
But some argue that meaningful regulations haven’t been passed since then.
“ We know that community members want to have and care for their children and their families and that they have more situational awareness. … Also, they're more nimble, and they have the ability to test public health policies at the local level, which they were able to do until 2018,” said Lola Irvin, administrator of the state Department of Health’s Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Division.
Irvin spoke during a hearing on House Bill 380, which would repeal Act 206.
Meanwhile, tobacco use — especially among Hawaiʻi’s youth — continues to be a concern. About 15% of high school students across the state use e-cigarettes or vapes, according to 2024 information from the DOH. Even middle school students have been reported using vapes.
But it’s not just the youth who are at a higher risk of tobacco use. Cigarette use disproportionately affects Native Hawaiians, those who earn less, and those with less education.
Giving the counties back their authority to regulate tobacco would likely lead to increasingly strict rules.
In 2013 the Hawaiʻi County Council passed one of the nation’s first measures raising the legal age to buy tobacco products to 21 years, which became a statewide law in 2016. All the county councils passed legislation to ban smoking at beaches and parks.
Even with Act 206 in place, three of the four councils have passed “trigger” laws that would go into effect if the state’s preemption law ever gets repealed or suspended.
Hawaiʻi, Honolulu and Maui counties all have laws that ban the sale of flavored tobacco once the counties are given back that regulatory power.
Opponents are generally worried about how the additional regulations would affect local businesses.
Tina Yamaki, president of the Retail Merchants of Hawaiʻi, said in written testimony that tobacco sales brought in $82 million in state tax revenue last year. She also said that tobacco products would still be available to buy online or through illegal means, and that enforcement would help curb youth tobacco use.
Michelle Jordan, representing the Discount Smoke Shop Hawaiʻi, said in written testimony that the measure “would create significant unintended consequences that would negatively impact small businesses like ours, create unnecessary regulatory confusion, and place additional tax burdens on the state.”
HB 380 passed the House Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs on Thursday and is headed to the chamber’s Committee on Finance.
A similar House measure was introduced at the state Legislature last year, but it was deferred before ever leaving the chamber.
