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House OKs anti-smoking bill
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Posted on Oct 06 2008
The House of Representatives has passed legislation making it illegal to smoke in public places in the Commonwealth.
By a 15-1 vote, the Lower House approved the bill designed to ban smoking at local restaurants and workplaces. Rep. Stanley Torres voted against the bill, and Reps. Victor Hocog and Joseph Reyes abstained. Two members were absent: Reps. Edwin Aldan and Ray N. Yumul.
The bill will become law once approved by the Senate and signed by the governor.
Under the proposed legislation, all enclosed public places and indoor workplaces must be completely smoke-free. It also bans smoking within 25 feet of doorways, windows, and ventilation intakes.
But there are several exemptions. The smoking ban does not apply to bars, private residences, and retail tobacco stores, as well as hotel rooms and private rooms in nursing homes that are designated as smoking.
The smoking ban has received broad support from the community. The Department of Public Health called the bill “a stepping stone toward improved health for our CNMI community.” The CNMI Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition said the measure is “long-awaited and much needed.”
Palauan leaders also expressed their support for the legislation. Palau’s Office of the Council of Chiefs said, “Tobacco use was never part of our Pacific tradition and so legislation to control its use will go toward reinforcing traditional practice—a healthy policy on the part of Pacific people which we embrace.”
For its part, the local business sector has offered a qualified support for the bill. The Saipan Chamber of Commerce backed the smoking ban, but urged lawmakers to adopt certain amendments providing relief to bars and hotels. The business group was successful in getting the bill amended to exempt restaurants with attached bars after regular dining hours.
However, lawmakers rejected the Chamber’s proposals to remove the 20-percent limit on the number of rooms in a hotel where the owners permit smoking, and to remove the prohibition on smoking within 25 feet of an establishment where a ban is in place.
