--- title: Hawaii Set to Become the First State to Raise Smoking Age to 21 description: Hawaii may become the first state to pass a law banning the sale and possession of cigarettes and e-cigarettes to people under age 21 canonical: https://time.com/3836427/hawaii-smoking-age-to-21/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-27T14:00:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T06:41:57.089Z article:section: Health og:title: Hawaii Set to Raise Smoking Age to 21 og:description: Will be first state to set higher age limit. og:url: https://time.com/3836427/hawaii-smoking-age-to-21/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3647372cf45731d9/6987788de20a870ec2a845ea/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-smoke-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: TIME.com stock photos E-Cig Electronic Cigarette Smoke og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hawaii Set to Raise Smoking Age to 21 twitter:description: Will be first state to set higher age limit. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3647372cf45731d9/6987788de20a870ec2a845ea/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-smoke-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hawaii Set to Become First State to Raise Smoking Age to 21 > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=8a6af3b1-11b5-4da4-8f24-14afb2daf2cc&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Apr 27, 2015 2:00 PM UTC  Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Apr 27, 2015 2:00 PM UTC Hawaii is set to become the first state to pass a law banning the sale, use and possession of cigarettes and e-cigarettes to people under the age of 21. If a bill approved by Hawaii lawmakers on Friday is signed into law by Governor David Ige, adolescents will be prohibited from smoking, buying and possessing both conventional cigarettes and e-cigarettes. First-time offenders will be fined $10, and after that they can be charged a $50 fine or be required to complete community service, [the Associated Press reports](http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article%5F2015-04-24-US--Hawaii-Smoking%20Age/id-4e45e02563b343788ecd2b1a0fdc07dd). Some local governments have raised the smoking age to 21 in certain counties and cities — New York City among them — but if the bill becomes law, Hawaii will be the first state to do so. Though the rates of high-school-age smokers have dropped in recent years, some 2.3 million children and young adults started smoking in 2012\. In addition, a [recent report](http://time.com/3825218/ecig-teens/) from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that e-cigarette use among middle-school and high school students tripled in one year. If the Hawaii bill passes, it will [go into effect](http://www.kitv.com/news/hawaii-could-be-first-state-to-raise-tobacco-buying-age-to-21/32561456?utm%5Fsource=Social&utm%5Fmedium=FBPAGE&utm%5Fcampaign=KITV%20-%20KITV4&Content%20Type=Story&linkId=13769743) Jan. 1, 2016. \[[_AP_](http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article%5F2015-04-24-US--Hawaii-Smoking%20Age/id-4e45e02563b343788ecd2b1a0fdc07dd)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3836427/hawaii-smoking-age-to-21/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3836427/hawaii-smoking-age-to-21/"},"headline":"Hawaii Set to Become First State to Raise Smoking Age to 21","datePublished":"2015-04-27T14:00:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:41:57.089Z","description":"The bill covers both cigarette and e-cigarette use","url":"https://time.com/3836427/hawaii-smoking-age-to-21/","keywords":["Addiction","Smoking","Cigarettes","tobacco","E-Cigarettes","hawaii"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3647372cf45731d9/6987788de20a870ec2a845ea/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-smoke-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3647372cf45731d9/6987788de20a870ec2a845ea/e-cig-electronic-cigarette-smoke-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIME.com stock photos E-Cig Electronic Cigarette Smoke","caption":"TIME.com stock photos E-Cig Electronic Cigarette Smoke","creditText":"Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/addiction/","name":"Addiction"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3836427/hawaii-smoking-age-to-21/","name":"Hawaii Set to Become First State to Raise Smoking Age to 21"}}]}] ```