Lawmakers in the U.S. state of Hawaii are considering a state-wide ban on flavored e-cigarette liquids as well as flavored tobacco in a bid to combat youth vaping.
If the proposal passes, Hawaii would become the first state in the U.S. to adopt a state-wide ban on flavored e-liquids and tobacco.
The first city in the United States to ban flavored vaping products was San Francisco, which is currently home to Juul Labs, makers of the most popular e-cigarette in the United States.
Under the proposal to ban flavored e-liquids in Hawaii, there is one flavor that’s exempt from the proposed flavor ban and that flavor is menthol. As a result, menthol cigarettes and menthol e-liquids would remain available in Hawaii if the bill passes and becomes law.
The Associated Press reported that the logic behind the menthol exemption is tied to tax revenue, which would potentially suffer were menthol smoking and vaping products to be banned under the new bill.
According to Hawaii State Representative John Mizuno, the chairman of the House Health Committee, Hawaii’s tax on cigarettes, both flavored and non-flavored, generates millions of dollars on an annual basis that are allocated to cancer research, ambulance services, a hospital trauma center, and community health centers.
Those in opposition to the bill cited the findings of a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine which found e-cigarettes to be nearly twice as effective as nicotine patches and gum in helping smokers quit.
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