Bill Text: HI HB2150 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Tobacco Products.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-28 - Referred to HHH, CPC, referral sheet 3 [HB2150 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2022-HB2150-Introduced.html
|
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
2150 |
|
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022 |
|
|
|
STATE OF HAWAII |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||
A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO TOBACCO PRODUCTS.
BE IT ENACTED
BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. Tobacco
use remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States
and in Hawaii. Tobacco use is a serious public
health problem in terms of the human suffering and loss of life it causes, as well
as the financial burden it imposes on society and our healthcare system. According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention's 2014 "Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs"
guide, $526,000,000 in health care costs are directly attributed to smoking in the
State of Hawaii.
Furthermore, in a 2016 report titled "E-Cigarette
Use Among Youth and Young Adults," the United States Surgeon General explained
that ninety-five per cent of all smokers start smoking before the age of twenty-one. A 2017 study published in the American Journal
of Preventive Medicine found that eighty-one per cent of youth who ever used a tobacco
product report that the first product they used was flavored. Flavored tobacco products promote youth initiation
to tobacco use and push young occasional smokers to become daily smokers by reducing
or masking the natural harshness and taste of tobacco smoke, thereby increasing
the appeal of tobacco products.
Menthol is used by the tobacco industry because
it has a cooling and numbing effect and can reduce the throat irritation caused
by smoking, thus making menthol cigarettes an appealing option for youth who are
initiating tobacco use. Candy and fruit flavors
improve the taste and reduce the harshness of tobacco products, making them more
appealing and easier for beginners to try tobacco products and ultimately become
addicted. The popularity of electronic cigarettes
among youth is concerning. The combination
of enticing flavors and nicotine salts allows higher levels of nicotine to be inhaled
with less irritation because they have a lower potential of hydrogen, also known
as "pH." In the 2016 report titled
"E-Cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults," the United States Surgeon
General stated that, "Compared with older adults, the brain of the youth and
young adults is more vulnerable to the negative consequences of nicotine exposure. The effects include addiction, priming for use
of other addictive substances, reduced impulse control, deficits in attention and
cognition, and mood disorders."
While there has been a significant decline in
the use of combustible cigarettes over the last decade, there has been a dramatic
increase in the use of electronic smoking devices by Hawaii's youth. Vaping in Hawaii is at an epidemic level. According to the 2011 and 2015 Hawaii Youth Tobacco
Survey, during these four years, the proportion of youth experimenting with electronic
smoking devices increased six-fold among middle school youth and four-fold among
high school youth. According to the 2019
Hawaii Youth Risk Behavior Survey, thirty-one per cent of middle school and forty-eight
per cent of public high school students had tried electronic smoking devices. The 2019 Hawaii Youth Risk Behavior Survey also
indicates that eighteen per cent of middle school and thirty-one per cent of high
school students currently vape. The 2019
Hawaii Youth Risk Behavior Survey also shows the rates are higher in the neighbor
island counties with high school vaping use rates exceeding thirty-five per cent
for Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai. These rates
rank among the highest in the country.
Furthermore, while the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention
and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act, P.L. 111-31), prohibited characterizing
flavors, including fruit and candy flavorings, in cigarettes, it did not ban menthol
in cigarettes or the use of characterizing flavors in other tobacco products. The Tobacco Control Act provided the United States
Food and Drug Administration with the authority to regulate cigarettes, roll-your-own
tobacco, and smokeless tobacco, but required the Food and Drug Administration to
undertake an extensive rulemaking process to extend its regulatory authority to
include e-cigarettes. Delays in the regulatory
process allowed the tobacco industry and electronic smoking device industry to significantly
increase the introduction of and extensively market flavored non-cigarette tobacco
products, especially in electronic smoking devices. It is no coincidence that the number of electronic
cigarette flavors have skyrocketed in recent years. In a 2018 study published in The Journal of Medical
Internet Research, the count of flavor labels was reported to have more than doubled
from 7,776 in 2013-2014 to 15,586 in 2016-2017.
Hawaii has experienced the heightened promotion of vape products that offer
candy and local flavors designed to appeal to the State's youth, such as orange
soda, apple mui, Kona coffee, Maui Mango, Shaka strawberry, lychee ice, and Molokai
Hot Bread. Additionally, many of the packages
are designed to look like candies popular with children, such as Jolly Ranchers
and Sour Patch Kids.
Additionally, young people are disproportionately
using flavored tobacco products, including menthol. According to a 2010 Hawaii State Department of
Health report titled "Smoking and Tobacco Use in Hawaii: Facts, Figures and
Trends," seventy-eight per cent of Native Hawaiian and Pacific islander adult
smokers and forty-two per cent of Caucasian adult smokers consume menthol cigarettes. A 2019 study published in the Hawai'i Journal
of Health and Social Welfare found that sixty- seven per cent of Filipino adult
smokers preferred the menthol flavor. In
a 2011 modeling study published in the American Journal of Public Health, an estimated
633,252 deaths nationally can be averted by the year 2050, if menthol cigarette
smoking is banned.
Given the significant threat to public health
posed by flavored tobacco products, including those with menthol, five states, including
California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island, and dozens of
cities have enacted laws prohibiting the sale of flavored tobacco products. These laws now protect over twenty-five per cent
of the United States population. Hawaii should
also take steps to regulate these products to reduce tobacco-related health disparities
and address the youth vaping epidemic.
Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to prohibit
the sale or distribution in Hawaii of all flavored tobacco products, including products
with menthol, and prohibit the mislabeling of products as nicotine-free.
SECTION 2.
Chapter 712, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding to part IV a new
section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§712-
Sale of flavored tobacco products; mislabeling
as nicotine-free. (1) Beginning January
1, 2023, it shall be unlawful for any retailer or any agent or employee of the retailer
to:
(a) Sell, offer for
sale, or possess with the intent to sell or offer for sale, a flavored tobacco product;
or
(b) Mislabel as nicotine-free, or sell or market
for sale as nicotine-free, any e-liquid product that contains nicotine.
(2) A statement or claim, including but not limited
to text, color, or images on the tobacco product's labeling or packaging that is
used to explicitly or implicitly communicate that the tobacco product has a flavor
other than tobacco, made by a manufacturer or an agent or employee of the manufacturer
in the course of the person's agency or employment, and directed to consumers or
the public shall be prima facie evidence that the tobacco product is a flavored
tobacco product.
(3) Any flavored tobacco product found in a retailer's
possession that is in violation of this section shall be considered contraband,
promptly seized, subject to immediate forfeiture and destruction or disposal as
hazardous waste, and shall not be subject to the procedures set forth in chapter
712A.
(4) Any retailer and any agent or employee of a
retailer who violates this section shall be subject to a fine not exceeding $500. Any subsequent violation shall subject the offender
to a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $2,000.
(5) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary,
any county may adopt a rule or ordinance that places greater restrictions on the
access to flavored tobacco products than provided in this section. In the case of a conflict between the restrictions
in this section and any county rule or ordinance regarding access to flavored tobacco
products, the more stringent restrictions shall prevail.
(6) For the purposes of this section:
"Characterizing
flavor" means a
distinguishable taste or aroma, or both, other than the taste or aroma of tobacco,
imparted by a tobacco product or any byproduct produced by the tobacco product. Characterizing flavors include but are not limited
to tastes or aromas relating to any candy, chocolate, vanilla, honey, fruit, cocoa,
coffee, dessert, alcoholic beverage, menthol, mint, wintergreen, herb, or spice. A tobacco product shall not be determined to have
a characterizing flavor solely because of the use of additives or flavorings or
the provision of ingredient information in the absence of a distinguishable taste
or aroma, or both.
"Cigarette" means any roll for
smoking made wholly or in part of tobacco, irrespective of size and shape and whether
or not the tobacco is flavored, adulterated, or mixed with any other ingredient,
the wrapper or cover of which is made of paper or any other substance or material
except tobacco.
"Constituent" means any ingredient,
substance, chemical, or compound, other than tobacco, water, or reconstituted tobacco
sheet, that is added by the manufacturer to a tobacco product during the processing,
manufacture, or packing of the tobacco product.
"Distinguishable" means perceivable
by either the sense of smell or taste.
"Electronic smoking device" means
any electronic product that can be used to aerosolize and deliver nicotine or other
substances to a person inhaling from the device, including but not limited to an
electronic cigarette, electronic cigar, electronic cigarillo, or electronic pipe,
and any cartridge or other component of the device or related product.
"E-liquid" means any liquid or
like substance, which may or may not contain nicotine, that is designed or intended
to be used in an electronic smoking device, whether or not packaged in a cartridge
or other container. "E-liquid"
shall not include prescription drugs; medical cannabis or manufactured cannabis
products pursuant to chapter 329D; or medical devices used to aerosolize, inhale,
or ingest prescription drugs, or manufactured cannabis products manufactured or
distributed in accordance with section 329D-10(a).
"Entity" means one or more individuals,
a limited liability company, corporation, a partnership, an association, or any
other type of business.
"Flavored tobacco product" means
any tobacco product that contains a constituent that imparts a characterizing flavor.
"Labeling" means written, printed,
pictorial, or graphic matter upon a tobacco product or any of its packaging.
"Packaging" means a pack, box,
carton, or container of any kind, or if no other container, any wrapping, including
cellophane, in which a tobacco product is sold or offered for sale to a consumer.
"Retailer" means an entity who
sells, offers for sale, or exchanges or offers to exchange tobacco products to consumers
for any form of consideration. The term "retailer"
includes the owner of a tobacco retail location.
"Tobacco product" means any product
containing, made of, or derived from tobacco or nicotine that is intended for human
consumption or is likely to be consumed, whether smoked, heated, chewed, absorbed,
dissolved, inhaled, or ingested by other means.
"Tobacco product" includes but is not limited to a cigarette, cigar,
pipe tobacco, chewing or smokeless tobacco, snuff, snus, e-liquid, or an electronic
smoking device. "Tobacco product"
does not include drugs, devices, or combination products approved for sale by the
United States Food and Drug Administration, as those terms are defined in the Federal
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
"Tobacco retail location" means
any premises where tobacco products are sold or distributed to a consumer, including
but not limited to any store, bar, lounge, cafe, stand, outlet, vehicle, cart, location,
vending machine, or structure."
SECTION 3.
This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were
incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.
SECTION 4.
If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or
circumstance, is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or
applications of the Act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or
application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are severable.
SECTION 5. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 6. This Act, upon its approval, shall take effect on January 1, 2023.
|
INTRODUCED
BY: |
_____________________________ |
|
|
BY REQUEST |
Report Title:
Flavored Tobacco Products; Sale; Ban
Description:
Bans the sale of flavored tobacco products and mislabeled e-liquid products. Effective 1/1/2023.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
