Hawaii is now the fourth state to ban electronic cigarettes wherever smoking is illegal, and Gov. David Ige in the next few days plans to make Hawaii the first state to bar sales of e-cigarettes to people under age 21.
On Thursday, Ige signed legislation that requires e-cigarette users, starting Jan. 1, to abide by the same requirements that were put into place in 2006 that ban smoking in indoor areas of work sites, restaurants and bars.
The state Senate on Friday also passed Senate Bill 1030, which makes it illegal, after July 1, for people under 21 to buy e-cigarettes. The bill is being reviewed before it goes to Ige for his consideration, his spokeswoman Jodi Leong said.
Another bill before a legislative conference committee would impose an undefined tax on sales of e-cigarette products. A bill that was killed earlier in the session would have imposed an 80 percent tax.
Previous legislative attempts to impose a tax on sales of e-cigarette products beyond the state’s general excise tax have died.
The state Department of Health applauded Ige’s signature on a bill that otherwise would have allowed e-cigarette use in smoke-free locations.
The Health Department said e-cigarettes could expose nonsmokers and particularly children and pregnant women to "aerosolized nicotine and other toxic substances, which could be dangerous to one’s health."
"These products currently are not regulated and many of the hazardous components in cigarettes are also found in e-cigarette emissions," Health Director Dr. Virginia Pressler said in a statement. "Just as we found that smoking was dangerous after many years of unrestricted use, we could be unintentionally harming people as a result of not including e-cigarettes as part of our smoke-free laws."
The Heath Department cited a new report by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health that warns about secondhand exposure to nicotine from e-cigarettes.
"Smoke-free air laws were designed to protect the public from the dangers of nicotine and other harmful chemicals found in cigarettes," the Health Department said. "In addition to potential health consequences, e-cigarette use undermines compliance with these same smoke-free laws by reversing the progress made in establishing a social norm that smoking is not permitted in public spaces."
Scott Rasak, vice president of Hawaii-based VOLCANO Fine Electronic Cigarettes, expressed disappointment with the legislative action. "It’s unfortunate that these types of laws are being passed to restrict the use of e-cigarettes," Rasak said. "Our products are not tobacco products. They do not include tobacco."
Many former tobacco smokers turn to e-cigarettes to wean themselves off tobacco, Rasak said.
By lumping e-cigarette users with tobacco users, "they are now being put back into a place where their health is at risk again," Rasak said.
Middle- and high-school students are smoking less tobacco in Hawaii. But over the past decade, e-cigarette use has jumped.
E-cigarette use among high school students tripled from 5.1 percent in 2011 to 17.6 percent in 2013, according to the Health Department, and quadrupled among middle-school students, to 7.9 percent from 1.8 percent.
Even though e-cigarettes are marketed as smoking cessation devices, the Health Department said e-cigarette users "often do not quit smoking traditional cigarettes but instead become dual users."
The Health Department urged people trying to quit both cigarettes and e-cigarettes to call the Hawaii Tobacco Quitline to receive cessation devices or speak with a "quit coach" at no cost by calling 800-QUIT NOW or by visiting hawaiiquitline.org.
The Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii said tobacco use and exposure to tobacco kills 1,400 people every year in Hawaii and costs $526 million in health care costs.
State Sen. Sam Slom (R, Diamond Head-Kahala-Hawaii Kai) said he "hates" the bill that would make Hawaii the first state to ban e-cigarettes to people under 21.
"It is one of the worst pieces of legislation because, again, Hawaii leads the nation, being the first state to deprive people of choice and accountability," Slom said. "While I specifically do not condone or advocate smoking, we’re not talking about the keiki, we’re talking about 18 to 21 — legal adults."
Slom said the bill is "discriminatory" and hurts small businesses and retailers but, more important, takes away the right of adults.
"We ask them to go and defend their country, and the rights and the freedoms of their country, and to fight and die for that," Slom said. "Then they come home and we tell them no, they can’t smoke if they want to."
Slom also said the measure may be subject to a legal challenge because the final draft of SB 1030 approved by the Senate on Friday never received a required public hearing in the Senate.
"I think it’s got some legal challenges," he said. "I would argue that if somebody made a case, we did not follow legislative procedure."
Star-Advertiser reporter Kevin Dayton contributed to this report.
