By Timothy S. Donahue
Top Takeaways:
- Registry expands: Beginning in 2027, Hawaii will require all vaping products sold in the state to have FDA marketing authorization.
- Disposable ban: The state will also prohibit the sale and distribution of disposable e-cigarettes beginning Jan. 1, 2027.
- Enforcement is increasing: Manufacturers and retailers face escalating civil penalties and criminal liability—for selling unlisted products.
Hawaii Gov. Josh Green has signed two bills that will significantly restrict the state’s vaping market, limiting legal sales to products authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and banning disposable e-cigarettes starting next year.
House Bill 1573 and Senate Bill 2175 establish one of the nation’s most restrictive regulatory frameworks for electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS).
House Bill 1573 requires that only vaping devices and e-liquids with U.S. Food and Drug Administration marketing granted orders (MGOs) may be sold in Hawaii. Beginning Oct. 1, manufacturers seeking to distribute products in the state must submit documentation demonstrating compliance with state and federal laws, provide proof of FDA authorization, and pay a $1,000 certification fee for each product line.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2027, the Hawaii Department of the Attorney General will publish a directory of approved manufacturers, brands, and products. Retailers offering products not listed in the directory face fines starting at $500 per product for a first violation and increasing to $2,000 per product for subsequent offenses.
Manufacturers found offering unlisted products for sale could be fined up to $10,000 per product and may face misdemeanor charges. State Rep. Scot Matayoshi said the measure effectively limits legal sales to the 45 vaping products currently authorized by the FDA.
Green said the legislation is intended to reduce youth nicotine use. “Vaping is bad, period,” Green said. “It leads to young people getting addicted to nicotine and it affects their physiology and development. And they get hooked on cigarettes later.”
Green also suggested that the state’s relatively small market is unlikely to attract companies unwilling to comply with the new requirements. “It’s very difficult for anyone to be in the industry in a market where, let’s be honest, we don’t want them here in Hawai’i,” he said.
The companion measure, Senate Bill 2175, prohibits the sale or distribution of disposable e-cigarettes starting Jan. 1, 2027. Violations carry a civil penalty of $100 per day per product. In addition to concerns about youth use, Green cited environmental impacts from discarded disposable devices and their lithium-ion batteries.
Supporters of the legislation argued that flavored disposable products continue to drive youth vaping. Lola Irvin, administrator of the state’s Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Division, argued that e-cigarettes have not demonstrated sufficient effectiveness as smoking cessation tools. “It is not a safe product to use for quitting,” Irvin said.
The legislation places Hawaii alongside a growing number of states that have adopted PMTA-based product directories to limit legal sales to FDA-authorized products. Combined with the state’s ban on disposable e-cigarettes, the new laws are expected to remove an estimated 99.9 percent of currently available vaping products from the Hawaii market beginning in 2027.
