Hawaii lawmakers on Friday passed a bill that would raise the legal smoking age statewide to 21, positioning it to become the first state in the nation to do so.
The bill, which passed the state Senate by a vote of 19 to four after clearing the house last week, would also ban the sale, purchase or use of electronic cigarettes for those under the age of 21.
“The activities we’ve engaged in over the years to manage smoking, our additional efforts in education, the raising of cigarette taxes, this is a continuation of those policies,” Democratic Senator Rosalyn Baker, one of the bill’s sponsors, told reporters.
LIMITS CHOICE
She said opponents of the measure have argued that it limits choice for people considered adults in other situations, like joining the military, but added: “To me, giving someone the choice to have lung cancer is not a good choice.”
Hawaii Governor David Ige would have to approve the measure. Ige’s spokeswoman Jodi Leong said he would make a decision only after reviewing the bill, which would likely happen this coming week.
Most US states set the legal smoking age at 18, while a handful have set it higher at 19. Some cities and counties, including New York City and Hawaii County, have already raised the legal smoking age to 21.
Lawmakers in Washington state and California have also pushed to raise the legal smoking age to 21 in recent months.
The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids said that tobacco use kills 1,400 people and costs about US$526 million in medical bills annually in Hawaii. It added that about 95 percent of adult smokers started before they were 21 years old.
MEDICAL BILLS
Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the US, accounting for more than 480,000 deaths annually, or one out of every five deaths overall, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Researchers have found that raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21 or 25 would significantly reduce smoking and tobacco-related illnesses in the nation and that a majority of US adults support raising the legal age to 21.
Smoking rates in the US have dropped sharply, to 18 percent of the population today, down from 42 percent in 1964.
The military is to begin conscripting civilians next year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said yesterday, citing rising tensions with Thailand as the reason for activating a long-dormant mandatory enlistment law. The Cambodian parliament in 2006 approved a law that would require all Cambodians aged 18 to 30 to serve in the military for 18 months, although it has never been enforced. Relations with Thailand have been tense since May, when a long-standing territorial dispute boiled over into cross-border clashes, killing one Cambodian soldier. “This episode of confrontation is a lesson for us and is an opportunity for us to review, assess and
The Russian minister of foreign affairs warned the US, South Korea and Japan against forming a security partnership targeting North Korea as he visited the ally country for talks on further solidifying their booming military and other cooperation. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov spoke on Saturday in Wonsan City, North Korea, where he met North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un and conveyed greetings from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kim during the meeting reaffirmed his government’s commitment to “unconditionally support and encourage all measures” taken by Russia in its conflict with Ukraine. Pyongyang and Moscow share identical views on “all strategic issues in
IDENTITY: A sex extortion scandal involving Thai monks has deeply shaken public trust in the clergy, with 11 monks implicated in financial misconduct Reverence for the saffron-robed Buddhist monkhood is deeply woven into Thai society, but a sex extortion scandal has besmirched the clergy and left the devout questioning their faith. Thai police this week arrested a woman accused of bedding at least 11 monks in breach of their vows of celibacy, before blackmailing them with thousands of secretly taken photos of their trysts. The monks are said to have paid nearly US$12 million, funneled out of their monasteries, funded by donations from laypeople hoping to increase their merit and prospects for reincarnation. The scandal provoked outrage over hypocrisy in the monkhood, concern that their status
‘FALSE NARRATIVE’: China and the Solomon Islands inked a secretive security pact in 2022, which is believed to be a prelude to building a Chinese base, which Beijing denied The Australian government yesterday said it expects China to spy on major military drills it is conducting with the US and other allies. It also renewed a charge — denounced by Beijing as a “false narrative” — that China wants to establish a military base in the South Pacific. The comments by a government minister came as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made a six-day visit to China to bolster recently repaired trade ties. More than 30,000 military personnel from 19 nations are set to join in the annual Talisman Sabre exercises from yesterday across Australia and Papua New Guinea. “The Chinese military have
RSS