House Bill 2507 would forbid the sale or furnishing of tobacco and tobacco products to persons under 25 of age.

The current age is 21.

Electronic smoking devices would be included under the proposed legislation.

The bill, introduced by Reps. Richard Creagan and John Mizuno, points to a Duke University study on nicotine that shows “a similarly harmful effect on developing brains as chlorpyrifos.”

That chemical agent, used in pesticides, was banned by Hawaii in 2018.

Challiyil EswarChalakudy via Wikimedia Commons

HB 2507 also cites a report that states, “almost no one starts smoking after age 25. Nearly nine out of 10 smokers started smoking by age 18, and 99% started by age 26.”

And the bill says this: “According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States.”

HB 2507 has a hearing Tuesday in the House Health Committee. So does another Creagan-Mizuno vehicle, House Bill 2540.

That bill calls for the following: “Bans the sale of cigarettes and electronic cigarettes progressively by raising the minimum age of persons to whom cigarettes and electronic cigarettes may be legally sold to 30 years of age in 2021, 40 years of age in 2022, 50 years of age in 2023, 60 years of age in 2024, and then 100 years of age in 2025.”

A similar bill to HB 2540 died last session, but not before garnering headlines.