GOVERNOR Arnold I. Palacios on Thursday signed into law House Bill 24-20, which requires businesses to label betel nut products and containers imported or sold in the CNMI with a health-risk warning.
Authored by Rep. Blas Jonathan T. Attao, the bill is now Public Law 24-02.
The measure, which is supported by local businesses and doctors, aims to ensure that consumers in the CNMI are fully informed about the significant health risks associated with betel nut use. Just as federal regulations mandate clear and conspicuous warnings for tobacco products, P.L. 24-02 establishes similar protection for betel nut consumers.
This reinforces public awareness and promotes informed decision-making, the new law stated.
Among those supporting the measure is Saipan Chamber of Commerce President Joe Guerrero, who said betel nut consumption is a long-standing cultural practice in the CNMI, but as a business community committed to public health, transparency and consumer awareness, local businesses believe it is imperative that betel nut users are provided with accurate and visible information about what they are consuming, he added.
A local internist and pediatrician, Dr. Norma S. Ada, said she sees the heartbreak that oral cancer has wreaked in the lives of men and women and their families — lives lost prematurely to a preventable cause of death.
Saipan Seventh-day Adventist Dental Clinic’s Jocelyn Sonsona, PhD., said that regulating betel nut sales by placing warning labels creates more awareness of carcinogen content in betel nut. A warning label, she added, will bring relevant information to the members of the public regarding their health choices.
