Tobacco use by young people in Guam is declining, according to a story in The Pacific Daily News citing the results of a survey by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDCP).
The Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services yesterday announced the release of the results of the 2017 survey, which was carried out among Guam students between the ages of 13 and 15.
The latest figures were compared with those of 2014, the most recent previous year in which the CDCP conducted a Global Youth Tobacco Survey on Guam.
In 2014, 27.7 percent of ‘students’ reported using a tobacco product, while, by 2017, that figure had fallen to 21.3 percent.
At the same time, 22.7 percent of students reported smoking tobacco in 2014, compared with 17.2 percent in 2017.
The survey found also that 47.7 percent of the young people surveyed reported they were not prevented from buying tobacco because of their age.
The 2017 survey for the first time recorded the use of electronic cigarettes, and it found that 34.6 percent of those surveyed said they currently used such devices.
The results indicated that 35.9 percent of young males and 32.7 percent of young females said they currently used electronic cigarettes.
Tag: Guam
Tobacco use down
In defense of Guam law
The US Department of Defense (DoD) has voluntarily enacted a policy that aligns with a new Guam law that raises the minimum age to purchase, possess or use tobacco products and electronic cigarettes from 18 to 21, according to a story in The Guam Daily Post.
The DoD’s policy on tobacco use states that military stores, including those at Morale, Welfare and Recreation points of sale, located on Guam, will not sell or distribute tobacco products or electronic cigarettes to persons under 21 years of age.
“Tobacco cessation is a priority of the DoD, critical to the health, fitness, wellbeing, and readiness of DoD personnel,” said Navy Lt. Ian M. McConnaughey, public affairs officer for Joint Region Marianas Public Affairs.Guam bill targets vaping
A new bill introduced by the Speaker of the Guam Legislature, Benjamin Cruz, seeks to expand the US territory’s ban on smoking in public places to include vaping, according to a story in The Guam Daily Post.
“Vaping is a choice,” Cruz was quoted as saying. “Breathing isn’t. No one who visits a public place should be forced to inhale potentially dangerous chemicals as the price of admission.”
Guam’s amended Natasha Protection Act prohibits smoking in places such as restaurants and bars, outdoor recreation spaces, elevators, public restrooms, transit stops, service lines, within 20 feet of entrances to business and government establishments, and other public areas.
Smoking, as currently defined by the statute, means ‘inhaling, exhaling, or burning any lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe, weed, plant, tobacco product or related substance’; so the statute does not include electronic smoking devices.
Bill No. 198-34 seeks to amend the Natasha Act’s current definition of smoking to include ‘the use of an electronic smoking device’ or ESD.
The speaker’s bill would establish also a definition of ESDs to include ‘any electronic product that can be used to aerosolize and/or deliver nicotine or other substances to the person inhaling from the device’.
The bill says these devices include ‘electronic cigarette, electronic cigar, electronic cigarillo, electronic pipe, hookah pipe, or hookah pen, and any cartridge or other component of the device or related product, whether or not sold separately’.
Minimum-age rise sought
The minimum age for buying tobacco products in Guam will rise from 18 to 21 if a new bill is passed by the country’s parliament, according to a story in The Guam Daily Post.At the same time, an amendment could see fines for the sale of tobacco products to underage individuals double.
The bill is the latest attempt by speaker Benjamin Cruz to increase the legal smoking age from 18 to 21.
The amendment was put forward by the Republican senator Fernando Esteves during a legislative session on Tuesday.
“The fines right now are so minimal, it’s fairly antiquated, it’s barely a slap on the wrist,” Esteves said.
Under the original bill, a retailer who sold a tobacco product to an underage individual would be liable to a fine of up to $500. Under the amendment that fine would increase to $1,000.
The amendment would mean that, for a second violation, the fine would increase from $1,000 to $2,000; for a third violation, it would increase from $2,500 to $5,000; and for a fourth violation it would increase from $5,000 to $10,000.
“One of the problems we have when we come up with laws is enforcement … giving [laws] a little bit of teeth,” Esteves said. … “People have a tendency to get in line when it affects their pocket book.”
The minimum age for buying tobacco products in Guam will rise from 18 to 21 if a new bill is passed by the country’s parliament, according to a story in The Guam Daily Post.