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House approves warning-label requirement for betel nut; excise-tax bill referred to committees
Summary
The CNMI House passed House Bill 24-20 requiring conspicuous health warning labels on betel (betel) nut products and placed an excise-tax bill, HB 24-27, on committee referral. Supporters framed the measure as a public-health step to address a local rise in oral cancer.
The House of Representatives passed House Bill 24-20 on first and final reading to require conspicuous health warning labels on betel nut products sold or imported in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the clerk recorded. The vote was recorded as 17 in favor, none opposed.
Supporters told the chamber during public comment and in written letters that the measure is intended to inform consumers — not to criminalize culture — and to reduce oral-cancer harms tied to habitual betel nut use. Jocelyn De Leon Guerrero, president of the Commonwealth Cancer Association, told lawmakers the bill "is not about erasing culture. It's about empowering people with information," and she urged use of rotating, eye-catching warnings modeled after federal cigarette…
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