A bill that would raise the smoking age to 21 won preliminary approval Tuesday from the City Council’s Public Safety and Economic Development Committee.
Bill 51 would also bar anyone under 21 from buying e-cigarettes or any other electronic smoking devices.
Currently, anyone buying either tobacco or an electronic smoking device on Oahu must be at least 18 years old.
Most of those testifying on the bill, introduced by Councilman Stanley Chang, were opposed.
Kaneohe resident Jolyn Tenn said her two children became responsible adults after they turned 18, making decisions about careers, health care, marriage and finances.
In view of that, raising the smoking age to 21 is "totally asinine," she said. "They’re totally capable of making these choices for themselves."
Kawika Crowley, Republican House candidate in the 2nd Congressional District (rural Oahu-neighbor islands), said young soldiers coming back from war without limbs may have picked up smoking elsewhere where it is legal for older teens to smoke. They would now be told they cannot buy a pack of cigarettes, he said. "These people have given up their limbs and everything."
Neither the Caldwell administration nor the Honolulu Police Department testified on the bill. HPD acting Maj. Lisa Mann, when queried, said the department would enforce the law if passed.
The state Department of Health and the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii supported the bill, calling a raise in the smoking age important to their efforts to discourage youths from the habit.
They noted that Hawaii County, New York City and four states have adopted similar legislation.
A representative of the Hawaii Food Industry Association said it opposes the bill, stating the group’s members would prefer a statewide ban. The group also opposes a planned "grandfather clause" for those already 18 at the time is imposed, calling it confusing for retailers and their clerks.
Public Safety Chairwoman Carol Fukunaga recommended her committee delete the grandfather clause, and her members agreed to do so.
The committee voted 3-1 to back the bill.
Ikaika Anderson, who cast the opposing vote, said he does not like the idea of telling people ages 18 to 20 what they can do, as they are legally adults.
The bill now goes back to the full Council for the second of three necessary votes.
