FEATURE
The paradise archipelago and US state narrowly escaped
strict measures which could have prevented the sale of
e-cigarettes to anyone under 100. By Phoebe Fuller
A bill calling for the gradual increase of
the minimum purchasing age for tobacco
products in Hawaii has been held,
following opposition from several of the
state’s local businesses and residents.
Representative Dr Richard Creagan, who
submitted the bill, proposed increasing
the legal age for buying tobacco products
to 100 over a period of five years. He
suggested this would begin by raising the
age to 30 in 2020; 40 in 2021; 50 in 2022;
60 in 2023 and 100 in 2024.
Dr Creagan, who worked as an
emergency physician prior to launching
his political career, told the Hawaii
Tribune Herald: “The state is obliged
to protect the public’s health. We don’t
allow people free access to opioids, for
instance, or any prescription drugs. This
is more lethal, more dangerous than any
prescription drug, and it is more addictive.
In my view, you are taking people who are
enslaved from a horrific addiction, and
freeing people from horrific enslavement. e-cigarettes under the banner of tobacco
products in the bill, citing the ‘epidemic’
of high school kids vaping as the main
reason.
We, as legislators, have a duty to do
things to save people’s lives. If we don’t
ban cigarettes, we are killing people.”
Had this extreme measure been passed,
it would have made Hawaii the first
US state to effectively ban the sale of
cigarettes. Since the bill has not been passed,
e-cigarettes will remain accessible to
those who wish to make the switch for
the foreseeable future in Hawaii.
However, Dr Creagan said he was keen
for e-cigarettes to be exempt as he
believes them to be a safer alternative to
conventional tobacco products, though
chewing tobacco and cigars were also
exempt from his original bill.
But the House Committee on Health,
which heard the measure on February 7,
published recommendations to include
There’s no guarantee that a ban on
the legal sale of cigarettes would
have stopped hardened smokers from
upholding their habit anyway, as many
in opposition stated concerns that such
heavy prohibition would merely push
cigarette sales into the black market – an
instance which has been seen in other
nations such as Turkmenistan.
According to The Independent, the
central Asian country has a rife black-
market cigarette trade on its streets, with
packets of cigarettes fetching over £8
under current prohibition laws.
Meanwhile back in the tropical paradise
of Hawaii, other opposing testimonies to
Dr Creagan’s bill cited an infringement
of civil liberties and concerns about tax
increases to account for lost tax-revenue
on tobacco sales.
As a born free American citizen, I do
not agree with politicians telling the
people how to run their lives. Every
year, more and more of our freedoms
and liberties are taken away
– Hawaii resident and vape shop owner
96 | VM22
One resident who opposed the bill,
Mariner Revell, manages a vape and
smoking supplies shop in Pahoa. He told
Vapouround: “I opposed the bill because
it takes the freedoms and liberties away
from adults. I am not a smoker – I’ve lost
my father, both paternal grandparents,
and an uncle to lung cancer due to
smoking - I fully understand the negative
outcome of smoking. But, as a born free
American citizen, I do not agree with
politicians telling the people how to run
their lives. Every year, more and more of
our freedoms and liberties are taken away
and, in some cases, those freedoms that
are taken away are sold back to us in the
form of a tax, permit, or other fee.”