The bill was pushed
through by the Coalition for a
tobacco-Free Hawaii and scored an overwhelming 19-4 in favor. It will affect the smoking, buying and possession of cigarettes, including the electronic kind.
"It's definitely groundbreaking legislation," the lobby group’s Jessica Yamauchi said, adding that it’s
“amazing to be the first state in something. That’s very exciting for us,” she told the AP.
What remains is for Governor David Ige to sign the document and for his cabinet to look for potential legal issues that may arise.
"The departments will be doing their review and then we'll have the opportunity to look at it," Ige said.
The initiative was based around the simple math that around 12 percent of people could be prevented from picking up smoking if the law were passed, according to the Institute of Medicine, which is part of the National Academy of Sciences.
If successful, fines will be put into place of $10 for the first offense and a possible $50 for subsequent violations. Community service will also be included as possible punishment.
