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The Honolulu and Hawaii counties have already passed laws to end the sale of flavored tobacco products, and hopefully Maui County will do the same.
The state House committees on Health and Homelessness, Judicial, and Hawaiian Affairs have already passed HB1778 to restore the counties' authority to regulate tobacco sales and referred it to the Committee on Finance.
Each year, tobacco-related illness and death cost the state $611 million in annual health care costs, $1.1 billion in lost productivity, and nearly $1,000 per household in state and federal tax burden, according to A Report of the Surgeon General.
Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death, with an average of 1,400 Hawaii residents losing their lives to a tobacco-related illness every year.
We also know that 95 percent of smokers start before the age of 21, and eight out of 10 youth who use tobacco products start with a flavored product.
I personally have witnessed the grip tobacco products have on the youth, many of whom are my classmates. I often witness them vaping in bathrooms and swapping vapes to try different flavors, pressure their friends into trying vapes and getting addicted, and how often they will skip class to vape in bathrooms.
We urge the Committee on Finance and Chair Kyle Yamashita to put Hawaii's people over the tobacco industry's profits, schedule HB1778 for a hearing before the March 1 deadline, and pass this critical bill.
Dylan Arisumi
Kahului