The bill has to pass the House Finance Committee by April 5 to advance to the full House.
Lawmakers in Hawaii are considering a bill that would make the state the first to ban flavored tobacco and electronic cigarette liquids.
The proposal would ban flavored e-cigarette liquids, along with cloves and other flavored tobacco products, but it would exempt menthol cigarettes and vaping liquids, according to KHON2 News.
Hawaii was the first state to raise the minimum age for purchasing tobacco and electronic cigarettes to 21 in 2016. Five other states followed — California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Oregon and Maine.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been taking action to combat an increase in teen vaping.
In early March, the FDA issued draft guidance proposing:
- to end current compliance policy as it applies to flavored electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) products such as electronic cigarettes (other than tobacco-, mint- and menthol-flavored products)
- to prioritize enforcement of such products offered for sale in ways that pose a greater risk for minors to access these tobacco products.
- manufacturers of all flavored ENDS products (other than tobacco-, mint- and menthol-flavored) that remain on the market under these new conditions to submit premarket applications to the agency by Aug. 8, 2021.
Also in the beginning of March, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced his resignation. The FDA named Ned Sharpless acting commissioner.
Sharpless is the director of the National Cancer Institute and supports the FDA crackdown on e-cigarettes.
The state Senate has passed the bill. But it first has to pass the House Finance Committee by April 5 to advance to the full House.