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A bill raising Oahu’s legal age for purchasing tobacco and electronic smoking devices to 21 got the first of three necessary approvals by the Honolulu City Council on Wednesday despite some reservations.
Bill 51 now goes to the Council Public Safety Committee, where it likely will be heard Aug. 26.
If approved, the measure would prohibit both distribution and purchase of tobacco and electronic smoking products for anyone under 21 beginning Jan. 1.
Those already 18 or older on Jan. 1 would be "grandfathered," or exempted from needing to follow the law.
The measure was approved 9-0, but members Ikaika Anderson and Kymberly Pine voted yes with reservations, voicing discomfort with legislation governing the behavior of adults under 21.
Representatives for the state Health Department and the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii testified for the bill. Most written testimony so far has also been in support of the bill, although representatives from ABC Stores and Volcano Fine Electronic Cigarettes submitted testimony against it.
Councilman Stanley Chang, lead author of the bill, said the measure is patterned after a law that took effect July 1 on the Big Island.
Supporters of the legislation point out that most habitual smokers become daily smokers by the time they’re 18.
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