Brief Chat
Speaker Cruz Cleaning Up Guam
By Johanna Salinas
W
hen thinking of an island community,
images of warm, helpful people may
come to mind. Many believe that island
communities are self-sufficient and generous
compared to big city living, which focuses more
on individuality. Guam’s inafamaolek culture is
still very relevant today, yet many have difficulty
adapting to the individual-driven lifestyle that
American culture has brought. It is just easier to
find escape with alcohol, or tobacco, or gam-
bling. But these temporary fulfillments have had
long-lasting impacts on Guam socioeconomics.
“Guam currently has the highest youth smok-
ing rate in the entire nation,” said 34th Guam
Legislature Speaker Benjamin J. F. Cruz. “This
disturbing statistic is no surprise when you
realize that a majority of underage users rely on
social sources to get tobacco. Increasing the age
of access ensures that our high school teens are
less likely to be in the same social networks as
those who can legally buy tobacco—protecting
an entire generation from a lifetime of addiction
and disease.”
Speaker Cruz also believes that the communi-
ty can save money by raising the drinking age.
“Raising the age of access is cost-effective,” Cruz
stated. “The earlier you start smoking, the less
likely you are to quit. And, as long as it costs
fifty times more to treat a patient who’s made
the choice to smoke compared to a patient who
doesn’t, it’s the entire community, not just the
individual, who pays for that choice.” GMH is los-
ing out on money from patients that are unable
to pay. A healthier community can reduce the
number of people that are unable to pay medi-
cal bills.
Increasing the alcohol drinking age from 18 to
21 has shown a positive health impact on Guam.
“While increasing the minimum legal drinking
age has been statistically proven to reduce the
number of alcohol-related deaths and injuries,
the most noticeable impact on Guam was the
immediate decrease in alcohol abuse among our
youth,” said Cruz.
“According to the Guam State Epidemiologi-
cal Profile for 2014, binge-drinking significantly
decreased in 2011 following the passage of my
measure to raise the legal drinking age (Pub-
lic Law 30-156). Medical experts at the Guam
Behavioral Health and Wellness Center also
attributed the decrease in Guam’s suicide rate to
the enactment of P.L. 30-156.”
Alcoholism isn’t just a physical sickness; it’s a
mental/emotional one. By increasing the drink-
ing age, Cruz has helped the youth find positive
ways to spend their time.
Cruz’s current endeavor is to tackle gam-
bling. “Guam’s laws on gambling are statutorily
schizophrenic,” claimed Cruz. “That is why I
have opposed gambling throughout my career,
and why I also supported an amendment in the
32nd Guam Legislature that would have barred
gambling in all its currently legal forms. With
so much of the crime we face as a community
linked to addiction, we’d be lying to ourselves
if we thought that ‘addictive gambling’ could be
cured by government regulation.”
Gambling does not just affect individuals, it
affects families. “As a family court judge, I saw
the very real pain and suffering caused by addic-
tive gambling in this community. And unless you
have seen a little girl sell herself to pay for spam
and bread because her parents gambled away
the family paycheck, no one can tell me that
gambling is harmless.” The crimes and familial
problems that are caused by gambling hurt the
inafamaolek spirit, he says.
It can be difficult for morals and values to stay
intact with the ever-changing society; there-
fore, Cruz strives to keep Guam ‘good.’ “In my
forty-two years of public service, my vision for
Guam has always remained the same: ensure
that our government works just as hard for the
powerless as it does for the powerful,” he said.
“As chairman of the Committee on Appropri-
ations, that means passing balanced budgets,
working to cut our massive debt and making the
best possible use of every tax dollar so that, ul-
timately, we preserve and strengthen the island
we have borrowed from our children.”
A lcoholism, tobacco use, and gambling are
some of the biggest issues in Guam today. But
as healthy living and inafamaolek continue to be
promoted, Guam’s culture will survive modern
times.
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