STAND. COM. REP. NO.  60

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2009

 

RE:   H.B. No. 327

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 327 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CIGARETTES,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this bill is to protect our youth from the harmful, targeted marketing of cigarette companies by prohibiting the sale or distribution in Hawaii of "purse packs" that are cigarettes packaged in a box similar to a lipstick package.

 

     The American Cancer Society Hawaii Pacific, Inc. and Coalition of a Tobacco-Free Hawaii supported this bill.  The Hawaii Food Industry Association and a concerned individual opposed this measure.

 

     Your Committee has amended this bill by, among other things:

 

(1)  Clarifying that cigarettes having a circumference of less than 25 millimeters are prohibited from being sold or distributed in the state or imported into the state;

 

(2)  Placing the responsibility of enforcement of the ban on cigarettes with a circumference of less than 25 millimeters (miniature cigarettes) with the State Fire Council (SFC);

 

(3)  Establishing the State Fire Council Special Fund (Special Fund) to fund SFC's enforcement of the ban on the miniature cigarettes;

 

(4)  Directing that all fines collected for violations of the ban on the miniature cigarettes be credited to the Special Fund;

 

(5)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2020, to encourage further discussion; and

 

(6)  Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for clarity, consistency, and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 327, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 327, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

RYAN I. YAMANE, Chair