Hawaii Bill Wants to Ban Cigarette Sales
I thought a $200 fine for touching/holding your cell phone was steep, here's what one state wants to do in regards to cigarettes.
An Hawaiian Island lawmaker is proposing his state ban all cigarette sales.
Representative Richard Creagan doesn't think taxes or regulations are enough to curb the habit. He wants them off store shelves. By the way, did you know you have to be 21 to buy cigarettes in Hawaii? Creagan agrees the minimum age for purchase has slowed down the problem but it won't stop it.
HB 1509 seeks to halt the sales of cigarettes by making the age requirement progressively higher. They would start by raising the minimum age to 30 by next year, 40 in two years, 50 in three years, 60 in four years, and by 2024, an individual would have to be 100 to buy cigarettes. Huh?
Now this would not apply to e-cigarettes, cigars, or chewing tobacco. While this is being proposed, so is raising Hawaii's cigarette tax from 16 cents to 21 cents with the revenue going towards health programs and research.