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Smoking in cars with kids now prohibited
Smoking inside vehicles where minors are present is now prohibited after then-acting governor Arnold I. Palacios signed last week House Bill 19-85 HD2 SD1, which was introduced by Rep. Joseph Leepan T. Guerrero (R-Saipan). HB 19-85 is now Public Law 19-82.
PL 19-82 establishes regulation to ban smoking a cigar, cigarette, e-cigarette or pipe inside vehicles when a person who is under 18 years old is present.
Doing so is now unlawful inside the vehicle’s passenger compartment, whether the automobile is in motion or at rest. Persons who are caught violating the law will be fined $500 for each infraction committed.
PL 19-82 states that secondhand smoking causes serious health risks, especially for minors. The scent and smoke of a cigar, cigarette, e-cigarette or pipe circulates inside the vehicle and could inflict serious long-term effects on minors.
“Therefore, action must be taken to protect minors from being negatively affected by the negligence of the smoker(s) inside the vehicle. The Legislature further finds that prohibiting smoking in vehicles when in the presence of minors can lead to the betterment of our overall environment measures,” states PL 19-82.
Studies also show that smoking causes lung cancer, the fifth leading type of cancer in the CNMI behind breast, cervical, oral, and colon, according to the CNMI Cancer Registry.
The CNMI Division of Public Health has also been pushing for bars, hotels, and poker arcades to follow PL 16-46 or the Smoke Free Air Act of 2008 that prohibits smoking in certain places.
