Out of all 50 states, Hawaii became the first to raise its smoking age to 21 in 2017. Now, legislation is trying to pass a bill that would require citizens to be 100 years old in order to purchase tobacco related products. The new bill, HB 1509, suggests that the smoking age should go up to 30 in 2020, 40 in 2021, 50 in 2022, and 60 in 2023 – until finally, in 2024, people would need to be 100 years old to buy cigarettes. Hawaii’s government is working to put this into effect, claiming that “Regular cigar smokers and cigarette smokers have similar levels of risk for oral cavity and oesophageal cancers,” according to Cancer.gov.

Dr. Creagan, the state representative behind this bill, quotes, “This is more lethal, more dangerous than any prescription drug, and it is more addicting. In my view, you are taking people who are enslaved from a horrific addiction, and freeing people from horrific enslavement. We, as legislators, have a duty to do things to save people’s lives. If we don’t ban cigarettes, we are killing people.” (Hawaii Tribune-Herald).

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