Cigarette consumption in CNMI up in 1993

While various anti-smoking campaigns are important to help increase people’s awareness on the dangers of exposure to tobacco, the assistance of the community and policy-makers must be tapped to ensure its success.

This was the advise of Dr. Artin Mahmoudi, director of the Center for Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases at the Commonwealth Health Center, during Saturday’s symposium on culture and health sponsored by the First Lady’s Vision Foundation.

Workplace or community smoking bans, statewide taxes on tobacco and anti-smoking medical campaigns may effectively help encourage individuals to stop smoking, he said.

Consumption of cigarettes in the CNMI continues to climb. In 1993, the CNMI consumed 3,591 cigarettes per person, higher than the U.S. consumption rate of 3,121.

Since teenage smoking rates are high in the Northern Marianas, public health officials believe that this will eventually result in escalating health care associated with chronic diseases and tobacco related illness.

In 1995, the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and the Center for Disease Control, administered a modified version of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey to 900 students in four public and private high schools in the CNMI.

Of those surveyed, 33 percent of students initiated smoking before the age of 13, and 26 percent smoke regularly. Earlier, in the 1993-1994 CNMI Teen Behavioral Risk Survey, over 50 percent of the males in 12th grade were already regular smokers.

Cigarette smoking among younger people remains a major public concern, as nearly the first use of tobacco occurs before high school graduation, and each day, in the United States, 3,000 teenagers start to smoke, according to Mr. Mahmoudi.

Although smoking prevalence in the U.S. has declined over the past several years, smoking cessation rates have not changed that much. This is understandable since initial abstinence rates tend to be high but decline significantly over time, he added.

As a result, over 3,000 young Americans become new smokers everyday. Although several studies suggest that smoking prevention programs can delay the onset of smoking for two to four years, the most successful interventions have always included mass media campaigns.