This was the findings of the study conducted in December last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The indoor air quality monitoring which aims to evaluate the impact of the CNMI’s Smoke-Free Air Act of 2008 said the pollution level in smoking rooms was over 44 times higher than in non-smoking areas.
Even in the venues where smoking is allowed after 10 p.m., the average level was considered “unhealthy for sensitive groups” by the EPA.
On Thursday last week, Tim A. McFee, director of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, echoed this concern to Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez.
He told Villagomez that the CNMI findings reflect the 2006 Surgeon General Report’s conclusion that eliminating smoking in indoor spaces is the only way to fully protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke.
These are the hard facts that Department of Public Health Tobacco Prevention and Control program coordinator Rebecca Robles brought to the members of the House of Representatives who were supposed to amend and act yesterday on the Senate’s smoke-free bill had it not been for the lengthy argument involving a different issue between House Minority Leader Diego T. Benavente and Rep. Froilan C. Tenorio.
Along with Commonwealth Cancer Association program manager and former Rep. Tina Sablan and other health advocates, Robles was in the House gallery preparing to present findings and other data that supported their stand against the proposal to ease the no-smoking rules at the hotels.
But because the House called for a recess until 9 a.m. today after acting on only one bill, Robles and Sablan did not have the chance to present the study.
Robles provided Variety a copy of the findings so the public can be informed that the enactment of Senate Bill 17-37 “is indeed a step backward” in the CNMI’s pursuit of a healthier environment.
Proponents of the bill said increasing the number of smoking rooms of the hotels from 20 to 30 percent, including the balconies, will address the hotel owners’ concerns and help the CNMI attract more tourists.
Robles, Sablan and other health advocates showed up at the Legislature because they heard the House would amend the bill passed by the Senate on Friday.
They wanted to make sure that any House amendment would not further increase the number of smoking rooms at hotels.
They said the Hotel Association of Northern Mariana Islands should provide data that will support its claim about the link between the decreasing number of tourists and the limited number of smoking rooms at hotels.
The CDC findings suggest that employees and patrons of smoke-permitted venues are susceptible to harmful levels of air pollution. In order to ensure the health and well-being of CNMI residents and visitors, the Smoke-Free Act should be strengthened, CDC said.
