Vaping laws in Hawaii have remained stagnant for years as a major state lawmaker has stalled new regulations while also taking thousands of dollars in contributions from Big Tobacco. Juul and other vape products have been linked to serious side effects.

Sylvia Luke, a state House representative for the Honolulu neighborhoods of Makiki, Nuuanu, and Punchbow, has been opposing new vaping laws for years. Luke’s stance against new vaping laws—including efforts to restrict illegal sales, ban flavors, and impose penalties on unlawful sellers—has been especially powerful given her position in the House Finance Committee.

While opposing these new vaping laws, Luke has also received nearly $20,000 in campaign contributions from tobacco companies and lobbyists. One of the most major contributors influencing vaping laws in Hawaii is tobacco giant Altria, which has had a 35% stake in Juul since 2018.

Hawaii’s e-cigarette and vaping laws are even less regulated than cigarettes and other traditional tobacco products. There aren’t any restrictions on internet sales, other than age, and e-cigarettes are not even subject to the state tobacco tax. Despite the age restriction on internet sales, data from the Hawaii Public Health Institute’s 808 No Vape project shows that most online purchases of vaping products by underage teens—94%—are successful.

The only vaping laws Luke has favored have been punitive measures aimed at underage users of e-cigarettes, rather than any laws that target vaping companies themselves.

Big Tobacco is “spending lots of money to make sure these bills don’t get passed,” says Liza Ryan-Gill, who manages the Flavors Hook Kids Hawaii campaign. Indeed, out of 82 bills proposing new vaping laws with a variety of restrictions, only three have become law.

But punitive measures against addicted users is not an effective strategy, Ryan-Gill says.

“For our kids to quit,” she says, “they need to feel that they can come forward and say, ‘This thing has got me and I can’t get free from it.’”

Hawaii’s problem with youth vaping has been making itself extremely apparent in the last few years. As of 2019, a whopping 48% of Hawaiian high school–age kids have tried vaping products, per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior survey.

That’s about twice the national average for U.S. high schoolers, says Bryan Mih, a pediatrician in Oahu who serves as medical director for the Kapiolani Medical Center Smoke Free Families program.

The middle school average is every worse, he says, with 27% of middle schoolers reporting vaping in a 2017 survey.

One of the major issues surrounding vaping products is that many youth users do not know that most vapes have nicotine. JUUL, the most popular e-cigarette brand in the U.S., always contains nicotine.

JUUL also uses flashy product design and attractive flavors to create youth appeal, critics say. Indeed, 80 percent of youth using vaping products report that their first e-cigarette was a flavored product, according to the American Heart Association.

Once kids start vaping, they can quickly develop a nicotine addiction—especially since young people are particularly vulnerable.

“These are habits that are established early on,” said Mih in an interview, reports Hawaii Public Radio. “Once they’re hooked on nicotine, it’s hard to kick it.”

On top of the risk of addiction, youth vaping has been linked with serious heart and lung issues, including a pneumonia-like lung illness. Vaping-related lung injury can be extremely serious, with thousands of patients hospitalized across the country and dozens of deaths.

Can You File a Vaping Injury Lawsuit?

If you or someone you love has suffered from a vaping related injury, respiratory illness, or other major side effect of vaping, you may be able to file a lawsuit and pursue compensation. Of course, filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by these kinds of complications, nor can it bring a loved one back to life, but it can at least help to alleviate the financial burden incurred by medical expenses, lost wages, and more, as well as to hold those responsible accountable.

Filing a lawsuit can be a daunting prospect, so Top Class Actions has laid the groundwork for you by connecting you with an experienced attorney. Consulting an attorney can help you determine if you have a claim, navigate the complexities of litigation, and maximize your potential compensation.

Efforts to combat youth vaping were derailed in 2020 by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but Hawaii lawmakers against vaping have said they will continue to fight back against the youth vaping crisis in 2021.

“I’m certain that those of us who helped work on the legislation last year are still willing to do that again,” said Maui Sen. Rosalyn Baker.

“Big Tobacco has always played a role in items that come out of the Legislature,” Baker said, “but I think we have truth and science on our side that they cannot muster.”