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The Hawaii House Committee on Health has voted to push forward a bill to stop people under the age of 18 from buying electronic cigarettes.
Hawaii currently prohibits youth from buying cigarettes. The law also requires stores to only sell tobacco products to people over the age of 18. But lawmakers want to take the ban a step further.
The bill would prohibit stores from selling electronic cigarettes to youth and expand the state’s definition of tobacco products.
Advocates of the measure say the bill is important because kids are targets of tobacco company advertising and tobacco has harmful health effects.
Some testifiers had concerns about how the bill defines e-cigarettes.
The Senate approved the measure last week. The bill now goes to the House committee on consumer protection.
