The Honolulu City Council is advancing a bill that seeks to raise the legal purchasing age for herbal cigarettes from 18 to 21. This development comes as part of the Council’s ongoing efforts to update and streamline the city’s regulations concerning the sale and distribution of non-tobacco smoking products.
Bill 1, introduced this year by Council members Tyler Dos Santos-Tam and Matt Weyer, aims to address a loophole in existing legislation. Under current laws, herbal cigarettes, which do not contain tobacco, are not subject to the same restrictions as tobacco products. This bill, if passed, would bring the city’s approach to these products in line with state laws governing tobacco sales.
Dos Santos-Tam emphasized the importance of the bill, stating, “The minimum age of 18 for herbal cigarettes on Oahu was set by the City Council via Ordinance 00-60 in 2000. In order to protect our youth, the City Council is seeking to modify laws that regulate their sale and distribution to align with state statutes that regulate the sale of tobacco products.” He also noted that the state Legislature had already raised the age to purchase tobacco products to 21 from 18 via Act 122 in 2015.