Hawaii First State to Raise Minimum Smoking Age to 21

Although a few cities in the U.S., such as New York, have made it illegal to sell cigarettes to individuals under the age of 21, Buzzfeed reports that as of Jan. 1, Hawaii will officially be the first state in the U.S. to raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21.

The new law was signed in June by Gov. David Ige and on Friday, Jan. 1st, a three month campaign to educate people on the new law will go into effect.

According to Buzzfeed, after the three month campaign, individuals under 21 who are caught buying tobacco products will be fined $10 the first offense and $50 every time after that.

As for businesses selling tobacco products to individuals under 21, they will be fined $500 for their first violation and up to $2,000 for subsequent offenses.

The bill came to fruition after officials found that e-cigarettes are used by teens three times the national average, according a University of Hawaii study by the Cancer Center.

With an increase in the usage of e-cigarettes by young people, the state has also imposed a secondary measure which strictly prohibits the sale of electronic cigarettes to any individual under 21.

Although Hawaii is the first state to enforce this law, Buzzfeed notes that California and many other states will soon follow with similar bans.

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