As you may have already heard, The Hawaii state legislature put forth a bill today (HB2557 - http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=2557 and SB2819 - http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=2819) to ban electronic cigarette sales to minors and to classify electronic cigarettes and its accessories as "tobacco products" therefore subjecting the sale of these devices to a 70% tobacco product state tax. As you might imagine we strongly support any measure that would ban the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors. However, the bill has many unintended consequences that endangers suppliers, supporters and users of electronic cigarettes in Hawaii and we are writing to you today to ask for your help in defeating this flawed measure.



If the state were to approve this bill as it stands and sign it into law, every component (incluing accessories) of an electronic cigarette that is sold in the state of Hawaii would be taxed at 70% of the wholesale price - regardless of whether or not the product includes nicotine/tobacco. This includes atomizers, batteries, charging components, drip tips etc... This would effectively drive up the retail cost for an electronic cigarette and its accessories for consumers making the product more expensive than that of a traditional tobacco cigarette.



Rather than conducting the necessary research to create a specific classification of the product and applying a fair tax policy for it, Hawaii's state legislature is merely attempting to classify the product as tobacco and apply the egregious tax rates that are applied to tobacco to electronic cigarettes too. Levying this hefty of a tax on the product would virtually wipe out any local vendors as they would not be able to compete with their out-of-state and international counterparts that are not subject to this unfair tax.

Customers would then be forced to buy their products from vendors out-of-state on the internet, or put down their ecigs and return to smoking again. Any and all local vendors would either be forced to relocate their operations to another state or face closure due to the competitive disadvantage that would be placed on them.



We humbly ask that you show your support for electronic cigarettes by signing this petition and contact the responsible state house and senate representatives to let your voice be heard. Volcanoecigs, the largest in state retailer, has already contacted every single house and senate representative and provided them with an official statement from Volcano and they hope that with your support, they can force Hawaii's legislators to take a look at the harm this bill would do not only for them, but for all vapers local and nationwide.



We strongly encourage you to tell your representatives what this bill would mean for you. How has vaping affected your life? How would a 70% tax and increase in the cost of vaping supplies affect you? Would this force you to start smoking again?



We have provided links below to the bill and the Hawaii State Legislature's website where you can find information about the bill and contact information for Hawaii state representatives.



The HB2557 bill page is here:

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=2557

*Please note that a testimony can not be submitted on this page until a hearing is officially scheduled. For now we request that you contact your representative directly before a hearing is assigned to oppose the hearing, therefore stalling the bill.

The State Senate Bill (SB2819) page is here:

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=2819

*Please note that a testimony can not be submitted on this page until a hearing is officially scheduled. For now we request that you contact your representative directly before a hearing is assigned to oppose the hearing, therefore stalling the bill.

The bill is currently assigned to the House Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Health and is being reviewed by Mr. Ryan L. Yamane, Chair of the Health Committee, and Mr. David Y. Ige of the Senate Ways and Means Committee to determine if this bill warrants a hearing. You can find contact information for all the representatives that sit on these committees by going here:

House: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/committees/committees.aspx?chamber=H

Sentate: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/members/legislators.aspx?chamber=S

To find your representative and their contact information go here:

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/members/legislators.aspx?chamber=H

The state tax provisions which would levy a 70% tax on electronic cigarettes should they be classified as "Tobacco Products" can be found here:

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol04_Ch0201-0257/HRS0245/HRS_0245-0003.htm

We thank you for your support and hope that together we can defeat this bill and preserve the right for anyone to to buy and use electronic cigarettes without unfair taxation here in the State of Hawaii. Aloha and Happy Vaping!