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Smoking/Vaping Policy for Students

Smoking (including vaporizing from an electronic device or smoking any product including medical marijuana from any device) is prohibited in all university buildings and vehicles. Smoking is also prohibited within twenty (20) feet of all entrances and exits to buildings in which HPU business or classes are held. Consistent with State of Hawaii law, use and/or possession of nicotine or tobacco products by persons under the age of 21 is prohibited.

At the Aloha Tower Marketplace, students are required to go to the designated smoking area at Irwin Park. At the Hawaii Loa Campus, smoking is banned from all areas except in the designated outdoor smoking area:

  • The masonry table on the grass at the Kailua end of the Academic Center.

It is expected that students will extinguish their cigarettes and dispose of them at the appropriate ashtray locations. 

Violations of the smoking/vaping policy, including but not limited to possession of nicotine or tobacco products and/or smoking related paraphernalia, are grounds for disciplinary action by HPU and/or local law enforcement.

Furthermore, nicotine or tobacco products and electronic smoking devices found in the possession of persons under twenty-one are subject to confiscation and destruction, regardless of value or ownership, by university personnel, including HPU security, Housing and Residence Life staff, Student Conduct staff and Dean of Students staff. University personnel will document the incident and notify the appropriate staff of the policy violation. The university may also contact local police, if deemed necessary.  

The State of Hawai‘i Revised Statute 712-1258 regarding tobacco products and electronic smoking devices is listed below:

  • It shall be unlawful to sell or furnish a tobacco product in any shape or form or an electronic smoking device to a person under twenty-one years of age.

  • It shall be unlawful for a person under twenty-one years of age to purchase or possess any tobacco product or electronic smoking device, as those terms are defined:

    • "Electronic smoking device" means any electronic product that can be used to aerosolize and deliver nicotine or other substances to the person inhaling from the device, including but not limited to an electronic cigarette, electronic cigar, electronic cigarillo, or electronic pipe, and any cartridge or other component of the device or related product.

    • "Tobacco product" means any product made or derived from tobacco that contains nicotine or other substances and is intended for human consumption or is likely to be consumed, whether smoked, heated, chewed, absorbed, dissolved, inhaled, or ingested by other means. "Tobacco product" includes but is not limited to a cigarette, cigar, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, snuff, snus, or an electronic smoking device. "Tobacco product" does not include drugs, devices, or combination products approved for sale by the United States Food and Drug Administration, as those terms are defined in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. [L 2016, c 231, §50; am L 2018, c 206, §8]

    • This provision does not apply if a person under the age of twenty-one, with parental authorization, is participating in a controlled purchase as part of a law enforcement activity or a study authorized by the department of health under the supervision of law enforcement to determine the level of incidence of tobacco or electronic smoking devices sales to persons under twenty-one years of age.

  • Any person under twenty-one years of age who violates this law shall be fined $10 for the first offense. Any subsequent offense shall subject the violator to a fine of $50, no part of which shall be suspended, or the person shall be required to perform not less than forty-eight hours nor more than seventy-two hours of community service during hours when the person is not employed and is not attending school. Any tobacco product or electronic smoking device, as those terms are defined above, in the person's possession at the time of violation shall be seized, summarily forfeited to the State, and destroyed by law enforcement following the conclusion of an administrative or judicial proceeding finding that a violation has been committed. 

A more definitive explanation of the statute can be found at https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol14_Ch0701-0853/HRS0712/HRS_0712-1258.htm.