Victory is sweet for health advocates after the Hawaii County Council passed a pending ban on flavored tobacco products, but the battle will continue at the state capitol.
The council on Wednesday voted to pass a measure that would prohibit Big Island retailers from selling or advertising any tobacco or nicotine product that tastes or smells like anything other than tobacco.
The bill was modeled after an Oahu ordinance passed last year, and was introduced out of concern for county schoolchildren, many of whom have been enticed to take up harmful and addictive vaping habits thanks to a wide range of candy-like vape flavors ubiquitous at head shops.
Several keiki testified at Wednesday’s meeting and urged the council to pass the bill, saying many of their peers have had their physical and mental health impacted by long-term use of vapes, which often have a far greater nicotine content than cigarettes.
“I believe the youth of Hawaii will be able to lead our nation into being vape-free,” said Kamehameha Schools Hawaii junior Zoe Gacayan, adding that her cousins in middle and elementary school are “surrounded by a menacing drug in a place where they are trying to learn the difference between good and bad.”
“We’re drowning in a sea full of nicotine-addicted peers, but we want them back, healthy and safe,” Gacayan continued.
The council voted to pass the bill, with only one member voting against it, Ka‘u Councilwoman Michelle Galimba. Her objection, she explained, arose from doubts that the government should be able to prohibit adults from pursuing a legal vice if that vice isn’t harmful to others.
“There’s definitely an argument that making those bad choices about one’s body affects other people in the health care costs that society has to uphold, and their family having to take care of them when they get sick sooner rather than later,” Galimba conceded. “But the other part of this is that, logically, really it’s the tobacco that’s causing the harm, so logically we should be banning tobacco entirely.”
Galimba’s doubts notwithstanding, the council was otherwise supportive of the measure and voted to pass it on final reading.
But even if the bill becomes law — it now awaits the mayor’s signature — it won’t actually do anything for the time being. The bill changes county tobacco regulations, which currently are superseded by state regulations that must be altered before the county rules can have any effect.
Kai Carvalho, chair for Tobacco Free Hawaii Island, said the next step will be advocating to state lawmakers when the legislative session begins later this month. She said several of the keiki who testified Wednesday will travel to the state capitol next week to ask legislators to change state law and “restore the county’s ability to regulate tobacco.”
“We hope that will happen this (legislative) session, obviously,” Carvalho said. “But if we have to wait until next session, we’ll try again next year.”
Carvalho said she believes there are “champions” among lawmakers who can be persuaded to take up the cause. She also hopes Kauai and Maui will join Hawaii Island and Oahu in trying to protect the health of their keiki by passing pending bans against flavored tobacco products.
“There’s no words for how I feel,” Carvalho said. “I’m really optimistic now for our future, our keiki’s future.”
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.