Much like last year, two bills have been introduced in the Hawaii House of Representatives that would make smoking for some much more challenging. One deals with smoking in parks, H.B. 525. Like last year’s H.B. 325, the bill seeks to ban smoking in public parks and beaches across the state, something that has already happened at a local level across the state. Smoking is already banned on public beaches in the counties of Hawai’i, Honolulu and Maui. On Tuesday, the bill passed a third House committee. In addition, Hawaii is once again considering to raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco products in the state from 18 to 21. That bill, H.B. 385, has already passed two House committees. Like the smoking ban issue, a similar bill was proposed last year, but failed to pass. Also, counties have tried passing similar legislation with varying degrees of success. Last year, Hawaii County, which covers the Big Island, successfully raised the minimum age to 21, while a measure in Honolulu was proposed, but has not passed.
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