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HI – [Concluded] Stop a Flavor Ban (SB 3118)!
- February 21, 2022
current status
Bill
Introduced
Passed
Senate
Passed
House
Signed by
Governor
02/22/22 – Hearing: Committee on Coommerce and Consumer Protection, 10:00 AM, Feb. 22, 2022
02/18/22 – The committee(s) on CPN will hold a public decision making on 02-22-22 10:00AM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.
02/11/22 – Reported from HTH (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2252) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to CPN. Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to CPN.
02/4/22 – The committee(s) on HTH recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in HTH were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Keohokalole, Baker, San Buenaventura, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Moriwaki.
02/02/22 – The committee(s) on HTH deferred the measure until 02-04-22 1:10PM; Via Videoconference.
01/28/22 – The committee(s) on HTH has scheduled a public hearing on 02-02-22 1:00PM; Via Videoconference.
01/26/22 – Introduced, Passed First Reading, Reffered to HTH, CPN.
SB 3118, which would ban the sale of flavored vapor products is scheduled for a hearing on
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
10:00 AM
Conference Room 229 & Videoconference
Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection
Even though the effective date of this bill is almost 30 years away, things like dates can be easily changed and, on its face, banning safer nicotine products that people enjoy more than smoking is counterproductive and harmful.
Please take a moment to register your opposition to this bill. You can keep your comments as simple as “I oppose this bill,” or upload larger comments. Submitting written testimony does not obligate you to speak a the hearing, but if you wish to testify in person via ZOOM your testimony must be uploaded 24 hours prior to the hearing (10:00AM HST, Monday, Feb. 21)
- Urge committee members to OPPOSE SB 3118, which would restrict your ability to use low-risk alternatives to smoking and send people back to smoking or to buy their vapor products from informal sources.
- Briefly, share your story about switching to vaping and what role that flavors play in helping you live smoke free.
- Note any health cha
- nges you’ve experienced.
- Briefly, discuss what losing access to a local supply of vapor products will mean for you (Does this bill put you at risk of returning to smoking? Are you being pressured to seek out informal sources of safer nicotine products? Will you make your own e-liquid at home or purchase products on an underground market?).
- Be brief, Be kind, and Say Thank You 🙂
For those new to vaping or just generally unfamiliar with federal regulations, the premarket tobacco application (or PMTA) deadline was September 9, 2020. This application is required to keep or bring new tobacco/nicotine products on the market. It is estimated that 95% to 98% of vapor manufacturers will not be able to afford this process and will not be capable of filing on time.
But 98% is not 100% (as the antis are fond of saying).
The FDA has already approved some new tobacco products that are being sold in flavors other than tobacco (specifically mint, menthol, and wintergreen). In the weeks prior to the September deadline, the FDA accepted for review several applications for bottled e-liquid in flavors ranging from tobacco to cereal to fruit. Despite the rhetoric from certain members of congress and the incessant pro-drug war drum beat of tobacco prohibitionists, FDA is still capable of authorizing flavored smoke-free nicotine products for market. Moreover, FDA may even allow manufactures of these products to market them as safer than cigarettes, if they apply for and receive a modified risk order.
SB 3118 would undermine any decision by FDA to allow low-risk flavored tobacco products on the market after having met the “appropriate for the protection of public health” standard. Even without involving the FDA, flavor bans are being enacted without thorough consideration of the negative consequences. Sales data from Massachusetts and New York suggest that many people who were vaping prior to the flavor bans simply returned to smoking.
While a flavor ban may amount to an inconvenience for teens experimenting with substance use, it is actively harming parents and other adults who are trying to quit smoking.
Hearing Notice and Agenda
SB 3118
Take Action Now!
We strongly encourage our members to personlize messages by sharing your experience with switching to vaping or other smoke-free alternatives.
How to Take Action:
- Comment directly on SB 3118 via its bill page.
- If you don’t already have one, set up a free account with the legislature’s website by clicking on “Register” at the top of a bill page.
- Click the “Submit Testimony” button at the top of each bill page. You will be taken to an instructions/look-up page. Click “continue” next to the bill number and fill out the submission form. You can write your comments in the field provided or upload pre-written testimony. (Talking points are provided below if you need some ideas.)
- Written testimony is due 24 hours prior to the hearings (10:00 AM HST, Feb. 21).
- Send an email to the full committee using the form provided on this page.
- Sign up to speak (requires submission of written testimony) following the same instructions above for submitting testimony.