Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi has signed a city bill banning the sale of herbal cigarettes to anyone under 21 years old.
Herbal cigarettes don’t contain tobacco or nicotine but can still be harmful to users, so the Honolulu City Council wanted to limit their accessibility to Oʻahu’s youth via Bill 1.
“Herbal cigarettes are yet another insidious and harmful product that uses deceptive marketing to target our youngest residents,” Blangiardi said in a statement this week.
“We are proud to sign Bill 1, and we will take decisive steps to protect the health of our communities and our keiki every chance we get," he continued.
The city says the cigarettes can contain herbs like ginseng, lavender or clove and are marketed toward young people.
The minimum age to buy nicotine cigarettes is already 21 years old, so the new law would close a loophole in the City and County of Honolulu’s cigarette laws.
The city says the new herbal cigarettes law doesn’t fall under state laws regulating tobacco and nicotine sales.
State law currently preempts county laws related to tobacco and nicotine. New laws don’t go into effect immediately, but would be “triggered” if the state law is ever suspended or repealed.
The counties are hoping to get back their authority to regulate cigarette sales.
