Hawaii becomes first state to raise legal smoking age to 21

Cigarettes and E-cigarettes are both outlawed by the new legislation

A two-year-old boy has been taken from his parents’ care after a health visitor highlighted concerns about the level of cigarette smoke at his home (Getty)

Hawaii has passed a bill to make it illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to smoke, making it the first state to do so.

The new law applies to both the use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes and will come into force in January 2016.

Under the new legislation, anyone under the age of 21 who is found to be smoking will be fined $10 by police for a first offense and $50 for any subsequent occurances.

Shops which sell tobacco products to under 21s will now be fined $500.

Lola Irvin, the administrator of the chronic disease prevention and health prevention division of the state Department of Health, told Hawaii News Now: “Most people who begin smoking, about 99 percent, start before age 21, so this will help our young people delay starting tobacco use.”

It will be the first US state to impose a smoking age limit of 21. Most states have an age limit of 18. The Californian legislature is currently considering introducing legislation to increase the limit in line with Hawaii.