Maui County Council committee looks at tobacco bill

An image of a storefront in Wailuku that sells electronic cigarettes is featured here on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024.
A new bill going through the Maui County Council may one day prohibit the sale, distribution and marketing of flavored cigarettes.
The Maui County Council Water Authority, Social Services, and Parks Committee discussed Bill 156 during a nearly three-hour meeting Monday morning.
Introduced by Yuki Lei Sugimura, who represents Pukalani, Kula and the Ulupalakua areas, Bill 156 would amend a section of the county code to prohibit retailers from selling or marketing flavored tobacco products and mislabeling products as nicotine-free.
The bill mentions that under a section of the Hawai’i Revised Statutes, county councils are “preempted from enacting ordinances ‘that would regulate the sale of cigarettes, tobacco products, and electronic smoking devices.'”
“However, the Council is concerned that the escalating use of electronic smoking devices has led to a significant rise in youth nicotine addiction,” according to the bill, which also includes language to say if the state law is changed, then the rule may be enforced.
Maui County Tobacco Free Coalition Coordinator Leslie Garo was present during the committee meeting. Garo said the bill is being introduced alongside an effort to push the state to give local municipalities more control over enacting such legislation.
She also said the purpose of the bill is to safeguard the islands’ youth.
“This bill specifically asks to ban flavored tobacco products, including menthol, because the flavors and the menthol is usually what gets our youth hooked,” she said.
“We’re trying to protect the future of our kids,” she said.
Garo also said the bill, if enacted, may have repercussions for local vape shops.
“Statistics are showing that 87% of tobacco products nationwide are actually already illegal in these stores,” she said.
“With this bill they would not be able to sell flavored tobacco products,” she added.
Some individuals came out to testify Monday, including local high school students.
One student from King Kekaulike High School, said it’s rare to find someone at her school who doesn’t vape, and she has witnessed kids selling vapes and other students experiencing withdrawal from the substance.
She also gave a personal narrative of a time when she walked into a classroom where multiple students were vaping.
“It looked like someone had turned on a smoke machine in the corner because of how many kids were vaping. There were 30 to 40 kids all huddled in corners of the room,” she said.
Cailee Gomes, who works at her partner’s vape shop, Smooth Vapes Hawaii in Wailuku, said their store only allows individuals 21 years old and up to enter, and that sometimes the distributor gets caught in the middle of the issue.
“We cannot help it if the parent is going to buy it. It kind of bites us,” she said.
She said the shop has been open for the past several years and recently was hit with a substantial fine from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“How long have we been open and now we get hit with this?” she asked.
She believes this new legislation would essentially put their business in jeopardy.
“This could shut us down,” she said.
According to the bill, if passed, the ordinance would take effect 42 days after a repeal of any state statutes related to preempting county ordinances on the sale of tobacco products occurs.
The bill also includes penalty amounts. Currently, the penalties listed include a $1,000 fine for the first day of a violation for the first violation. If the violation continues, the fine would increase to $2,000 each day. For a second violation, the fines would be $2,000 for the first day and $5,000 for each day after that.
Some amendments were made during the meeting, including but not limited to adding the definition of nicotine, tobacco products and expanding on the definition of electronic smoking devices.
For a full look at the proposed bill, go to mauicounty.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx.