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BLOGS
Hawaii Flavored Vape Ban to be Passed
This past Tuesday, a law, which will ban flavored vape and tobacco products in Hawaii, has just passed the House of Representatives with a vote of 36-15. The revised HB 1507 will move forward to Governor David Ige's desk where it will be signed into law or vetoed. It has already passed through the Senate and Ige's decision will be the final ruling.
Hawaii has a rising epidemic of teen vaping among middle and high school students and this bill is an effort to combat teenage vaping. The ban would prohibit the sale of most flavored tobacco products in Hawaii stores including vapes, cigarettes, cigars, pouches, and lozenges. The primary target are fruit, dessert, and sweet flavored e-cigarettes, but will also include menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.
An exemption was added to HB 1507 that allows for the sale of products that are FDA approved. So far, this includes NJOY and Vuse vaping products as they are the only major brands authorized by the FDA. Representative Scot Z. Matayoshi is not in favor of the exemption and if the law passes, he will introduce a bill to remove the exemption.
If Governor Ige signs this law, retailers will be penalized for mislabeling products containing nicotine as nicotine-free. Fines will be imposed of $500 for first-time violators and $500-$2,000 for additional offenses.
Although this law is aimed at protecting youth from flavored vapes, it will have catastrophic consequences for Hawaii's legal vaping industry. Vape shop owners have been battling the Hawaii Public Health Institute for years over numerous tobacco ban attempts. Now with the flavored vaping ban passing through the House of Representatives, one vape shop owner has had enough.
Scott Rasak is the Chief Operating Officer of Volcano, a vape shop chain with 16 stores all over Hawaii. As a strong advocate for the tobacco industry, he opposes the flavor ban on vaping products. He claims that HB 1507 is a "step backward for public health and adult access to harm reduction" as it will take away from an "age-verified legal pathway."
Rasak believes it will lead to flavored vape products being sold on the black market, leading to no age verification, making a larger problem with youth access. On the other hand, Matayoshi argues that children won't be able to afford black market products since they have little access to money. Regardless of their opposition, they are both for keeping vapes out of youth's hands.
Despite sharing a common goal, Rasak states that the ban is an "overreach of government in the ability for adult consumers to make their own choices and a failure at the state in enforcing the already 21 and over the law" which already exist for smoking and tobacco products. The industry keeps enforcing laws to protect children but they still get them. Vape shop owners argue that they are following all age guidelines and flavored products are not the issue.
Ultimately, the fate of Hawaii's vaping industry is in the hands of Governor Ige. Public health advocates want to keep flavored vaping products out of schools and are heavily pushing for this law to pass. On the other hand, vape owners will face job loss and bankruptcy. The real loss will be that adult vape smokers will lose their safe alternative to cigarettes. Hopefully, the governor will stand by the vaping community and veto this bill.
If you would like to stop the flavor ban in Hawaii, visit the CASAA website. The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA) has the latest updates and history of the HB1507 bill. Not only do they provide the current status of the bill, but they also have a form where you can send a letter to the governor to urge him to veto the ban. They provide tips to include in comments, phone calls, and testimonies when protesting this bill. It is a great source to help save flavored vapes in Hawaii!
Hawaii Flavored Vape Ban to be Passed
This past Tuesday, a law, which will ban flavored vape and tobacco products in Hawaii, has just passed the House of Representatives with a vote of 36-15. The revised HB 1507 will move forward to Governor David Ige's desk where it will be signed into law or vetoed. It has already passed through the Senate and Ige's decision will be the final ruling.
Hawaii has a rising epidemic of teen vaping among middle and high school students and this bill is an effort to combat teenage vaping. The ban would prohibit the sale of most flavored tobacco products in Hawaii stores including vapes, cigarettes, cigars, pouches, and lozenges. The primary target are fruit, dessert, and sweet flavored e-cigarettes, but will also include menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.
An exemption was added to HB 1507 that allows for the sale of products that are FDA approved. So far, this includes NJOY and Vuse vaping products as they are the only major brands authorized by the FDA. Representative Scot Z. Matayoshi is not in favor of the exemption and if the law passes, he will introduce a bill to remove the exemption.
If Governor Ige signs this law, retailers will be penalized for mislabeling products containing nicotine as nicotine-free. Fines will be imposed of $500 for first-time violators and $500-$2,000 for additional offenses.
Although this law is aimed at protecting youth from flavored vapes, it will have catastrophic consequences for Hawaii's legal vaping industry. Vape shop owners have been battling the Hawaii Public Health Institute for years over numerous tobacco ban attempts. Now with the flavored vaping ban passing through the House of Representatives, one vape shop owner has had enough.
Scott Rasak is the Chief Operating Officer of Volcano, a vape shop chain with 16 stores all over Hawaii. As a strong advocate for the tobacco industry, he opposes the flavor ban on vaping products. He claims that HB 1507 is a "step backward for public health and adult access to harm reduction" as it will take away from an "age-verified legal pathway."
Rasak believes it will lead to flavored vape products being sold on the black market, leading to no age verification, making a larger problem with youth access. On the other hand, Matayoshi argues that children won't be able to afford black market products since they have little access to money. Regardless of their opposition, they are both for keeping vapes out of youth's hands.
Despite sharing a common goal, Rasak states that the ban is an "overreach of government in the ability for adult consumers to make their own choices and a failure at the state in enforcing the already 21 and over the law" which already exist for smoking and tobacco products. The industry keeps enforcing laws to protect children but they still get them. Vape shop owners argue that they are following all age guidelines and flavored products are not the issue.
Ultimately, the fate of Hawaii's vaping industry is in the hands of Governor Ige. Public health advocates want to keep flavored vaping products out of schools and are heavily pushing for this law to pass. On the other hand, vape owners will face job loss and bankruptcy. The real loss will be that adult vape smokers will lose their safe alternative to cigarettes. Hopefully, the governor will stand by the vaping community and veto this bill.
If you would like to stop the flavor ban in Hawaii, visit the CASAA website. The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA) has the latest updates and history of the HB1507 bill. Not only do they provide the current status of the bill, but they also have a form where you can send a letter to the governor to urge him to veto the ban. They provide tips to include in comments, phone calls, and testimonies when protesting this bill. It is a great source to help save flavored vapes in Hawaii!
Tobacco Industry Submits Signatures
Tobacco industry submits signatures on California referendum to block ban on
flavored products sales
A coalition representing the tobacco industry said Tuesday it has
turned in more than 1 million signatures as it seeks to qualify a
referendum for the November 2022 ballot aimed at overturning a law
banning the retail sale of flavored tobacco products in California.
If the Secretary of State’s office determines there is a sufficient number
of signatures to qualify the referendum, the new law, which was scheduled
to take effect Jan. 1, would be suspended until the voters act on the ballot
measure in November 2022.
The signatures were submitted to the state by the California Coalition for Fairness,
which said in a statement Tuesday that its signature drive showed that voters
are put off by the new law.
“In the midst of an unprecedented pandemic, raging wildfires, heatwaves and power
outages across the state, more than one million Californians signed petitions for
the right to have their voice heard on an unfair law that benefits the wealthy and
special interests while costing jobs and cutting funding for education and healthcare,”
the statement said.
The coalition has received more than $21 million so far, largely from companies
including Philip Morris USA and its affiliated U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co., as well
as R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Opponents needed to collect the signatures of 623,312 registered voters to
quality the referendum.
The referendum was criticized Tuesday by Lindsey Freitas, advocacy director for Campaign
for Tobacco-Free Kids, a leading supporter of the new law.
“We know Big Tobacco has hidden behind smoke and lies for years to hook
generations of young people on deadly tobacco products, and this
referendum is just one more tactic to continue the status quo,” Freitas said.
"If this referendum qualifies for the ballot, we’re confident that
California voters will reject Big Tobacco’s desperate attempt to keep
hooking our kids for a profit. But the delay will be costly and deadly.”
Supporters of the flavored tobacco sales ban accused signature gatherers
of misleading voters by telling them the petitions were for a measure
to ban sales of flavored tobacco products to minors, a charge the coalition denied.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who signed the new law in August, denounced the
referendum effort when it launched.
“This is Big Tobacco’s latest attempt to profit at the expense of
our kids’ health,” Newsom said at the time. “California will
continue to fight back and protect children from Big Tobacco.”
The law Newsom signed would ban the retail sale of flavored tobacco
products including menthol and fruit flavors, as well as those
used in electronic cigarettes. To win legislative approval, the
bill exempted hookah, expensive cigars and flavored pipe tobacco.
It also does not apply to Internet sales of flavored products
Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo), who introduced the bill, said flavored
tobacco is used by the industry to attract minors to smoking and vaping.
He cited a 2018 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
that found that 67% of high school students and 49% of middle
school students who used tobacco products in the prior 30 days
reported using a flavored tobacco product during that time.
The high cost of qualifying the referendum and delaying the law for
nearly two years would be eclipsed by the profits the industry
would make selling flavored tobacco products in the meantime,
supporters of the ban say. They estimate sales of menthol products
alone will bring the industry $1.1 billion in revenue during
the 22 months that California’s law would be delayed.
The campaign over the referendum is likely to generate heated debate,
following vitriol between the two sides leading up to the
Legislature’s approval of the law.
The tobacco industry ran television ads before the Legislature’s
vote that alleged by exempting hookah, expensive cigars and
flavored pipe tobacco from the ban, legislators gave “special
treatment to the rich, and [singled] out communities of color”
by banning menthol cigarettes.
Black lawmakers called the ads offensive and argued that the
tobacco industry has targeted Black and Latino residents
with marketing of flavored tobacco products, causing
disproportionate harm to their health.
The coalition of tobacco companies repeated their charge on Tuesday.
“SB 793 criminalizes the sale of menthol cigarettes preferred
by people of color and creates special exemptions for products
preferred by the wealthy — allowing the sale of expensive
flavored cigars and pipe tobacco, in addition to hookah,
to remain legal," the group said in its statement.
In pursuing the referendum, the coalition said it agrees
“that youth should never have access to any tobacco products,
but this can be achieved without imposing a total prohibition
on products that millions of adults choose to use.”
The referendum is one of two prongs of the tobacco industry’s
attack on the new law. The companies also filed a federal
lawsuit against the state, seeking an injunction to block
the new law, arguing it is “an overbroad reaction to
legitimate public-health concerns about youth use of
tobacco products.”
A court hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for Dec. 10.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Tobacco Industry Submits Signatures
Tobacco industry submits signatures on California referendum to block ban on
flavored products sales
A coalition representing the tobacco industry said Tuesday it has
turned in more than 1 million signatures as it seeks to qualify a
referendum for the November 2022 ballot aimed at overturning a law
banning the retail sale of flavored tobacco products in California.
If the Secretary of State’s office determines there is a sufficient number
of signatures to qualify the referendum, the new law, which was scheduled
to take effect Jan. 1, would be suspended until the voters act on the ballot
measure in November 2022.
The signatures were submitted to the state by the California Coalition for Fairness,
which said in a statement Tuesday that its signature drive showed that voters
are put off by the new law.
“In the midst of an unprecedented pandemic, raging wildfires, heatwaves and power
outages across the state, more than one million Californians signed petitions for
the right to have their voice heard on an unfair law that benefits the wealthy and
special interests while costing jobs and cutting funding for education and healthcare,”
the statement said.
The coalition has received more than $21 million so far, largely from companies
including Philip Morris USA and its affiliated U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co., as well
as R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Opponents needed to collect the signatures of 623,312 registered voters to
quality the referendum.
The referendum was criticized Tuesday by Lindsey Freitas, advocacy director for Campaign
for Tobacco-Free Kids, a leading supporter of the new law.
“We know Big Tobacco has hidden behind smoke and lies for years to hook
generations of young people on deadly tobacco products, and this
referendum is just one more tactic to continue the status quo,” Freitas said.
"If this referendum qualifies for the ballot, we’re confident that
California voters will reject Big Tobacco’s desperate attempt to keep
hooking our kids for a profit. But the delay will be costly and deadly.”
Supporters of the flavored tobacco sales ban accused signature gatherers
of misleading voters by telling them the petitions were for a measure
to ban sales of flavored tobacco products to minors, a charge the coalition denied.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who signed the new law in August, denounced the
referendum effort when it launched.
“This is Big Tobacco’s latest attempt to profit at the expense of
our kids’ health,” Newsom said at the time. “California will
continue to fight back and protect children from Big Tobacco.”
The law Newsom signed would ban the retail sale of flavored tobacco
products including menthol and fruit flavors, as well as those
used in electronic cigarettes. To win legislative approval, the
bill exempted hookah, expensive cigars and flavored pipe tobacco.
It also does not apply to Internet sales of flavored products
Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo), who introduced the bill, said flavored
tobacco is used by the industry to attract minors to smoking and vaping.
He cited a 2018 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
that found that 67% of high school students and 49% of middle
school students who used tobacco products in the prior 30 days
reported using a flavored tobacco product during that time.
The high cost of qualifying the referendum and delaying the law for
nearly two years would be eclipsed by the profits the industry
would make selling flavored tobacco products in the meantime,
supporters of the ban say. They estimate sales of menthol products
alone will bring the industry $1.1 billion in revenue during
the 22 months that California’s law would be delayed.
The campaign over the referendum is likely to generate heated debate,
following vitriol between the two sides leading up to the
Legislature’s approval of the law.
The tobacco industry ran television ads before the Legislature’s
vote that alleged by exempting hookah, expensive cigars and
flavored pipe tobacco from the ban, legislators gave “special
treatment to the rich, and [singled] out communities of color”
by banning menthol cigarettes.
Black lawmakers called the ads offensive and argued that the
tobacco industry has targeted Black and Latino residents
with marketing of flavored tobacco products, causing
disproportionate harm to their health.
The coalition of tobacco companies repeated their charge on Tuesday.
“SB 793 criminalizes the sale of menthol cigarettes preferred
by people of color and creates special exemptions for products
preferred by the wealthy — allowing the sale of expensive
flavored cigars and pipe tobacco, in addition to hookah,
to remain legal," the group said in its statement.
In pursuing the referendum, the coalition said it agrees
“that youth should never have access to any tobacco products,
but this can be achieved without imposing a total prohibition
on products that millions of adults choose to use.”
The referendum is one of two prongs of the tobacco industry’s
attack on the new law. The companies also filed a federal
lawsuit against the state, seeking an injunction to block
the new law, arguing it is “an overbroad reaction to
legitimate public-health concerns about youth use of
tobacco products.”
A court hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for Dec. 10.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.