Bans on smoking in cars with kids catching out nationwide

Pine Bluff Commercial, August 26, 2007

LITTLE ROCK - The Arkansas Legislature banned smoking in cars with young children quickly and quietly last year, and the measure seems to be gaining popularity throughout the country and worldwide.

Since the Arkansas law went into effect in July 2006, similar bans have been approved in Louisiana; Bangor, Maine; Rockland County, N.Y.; Puerto Rico and the Australian state of South Australia.

The bill, which bans smoking in passenger vehicles where a child younger than 6 is riding in a car seat, was backed by then state-Rep. Bob Mathis, D-Hot Springs.

"I'm very pleased about the snowball effect," Mathis said. "It has brought an awareness to smoking around children, whether it's in a car, at home, or anywhere else for that matter."

The measure passed in an April 2006 special session that was primarily devoted to education funding, though the Legislature also passed an indoor workplace smoking ban.

"I am not on an anti-smoking crusade. In fact, I'm probably alive today because I quit," said Mathis, who quit smoking more than two years ago.

"I'm very proud of what has happened."

Arkansas' law is punishable by a $25 fine.

Dr. Carolyn Dresler, chief of the state Department of Health's Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program, said other laws that have followed are tougher.

"Arkansas set the bar low and others are looking to make it stricter,"

Dresler said, noting that in Bangor smoking is illegal in vehicles with passengers younger than 18.

Mathis said some of his colleagues didn't take him seriously _ especially because he voted against the workplace smoking ban.

"I felt that people that own a business or restaurant should still be able to decide how they want their business to be run," he said. "If people knew beforehand a restaurant was a smoke-free place they could choose not to go there."

But the House and Senate eventually passed the ban on smoking in cars, thanks to help from fellow lawmakers who stood up for the measure.

"No one really gave me a chance," Mathis said. "I felt like it was a very legitimate piece of legislation and I'm proud of what happened."

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Dangerous' at any speed: Smoky cars carrying kids Outlaw second-hand smoke where children are passengers

By Jack Keating, The Province, August 23, 2007

Canada's doctors want a law to ban smoking in cars carrying children.

Doctors at the Canadian Medical Association's annual meeting in Vancouver yesterday overwhelmingly passed a motion that "urges all levels of government to implement a Canada-wide ban on smoking in vehicles carrying children."

Dr. Brian Day of Vancouver, the newly elected president of the CMA, said he strongly supports the motion to protect children from the "very dangerous" effects of second-hand smoke.

"We really hope that governments act on the motion to protect the health of children," said Day at the conclusion of the four-day meeting at the Westin Bayshore Hotel.

"Second-hand smoke has proven to be very dangerous. I think that it's absolutely necessary that there be a ban to protect children in cars.

Adults can request that drivers or passengers not smoke but children can't do that."

Studies have shown that non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke have about a 20-per-cent higher risk of lung cancer and are at a higher risk of asthma and heart disease than those who aren't exposed.

Day said police could enforce a non-smoking law much like they enforce seat-belt legislation.

Smokers and non-smokers interviewed in downtown Vancouver agreed that adults should not smoke in cars with children, but some said a law is not needed.

"I grew up in a family where my parents did smoke and I hated it, so I support the ban," said Randy Dufour, holding his 16-month old daughter, Chloe. "I don't think our parents knew that second-hand smoke was dangerous at that time. And if they knew that, they probably wouldn't have smoked with kids in the car.

"But what we know today, second-hand smoke is not good for you. And as a new father I wouldn't want my daughter to be ingesting that smoke and potential for future problems.

"The fact that my mom died of lung cancer I think just enhances all that."

Said smoker Andrew Zender, 31: "I don't think it should be a law. I think it's just common sense. There are laws about every little funny thing.

They're too invasive to people's privacy. I wouldn't smoke with children in the car. I think it's just common sense. I don't think there should be a law about it."

Liz Anderson, who quit smoking, agrees.

"If I smoked, I wouldn't smoke with kids in the car," said Anderson, 30.

"But I don't think it should be a law. I think it's an invasion of your private rights. You should just know better than to smoke with kids in the car."

Smoker Terra Atrill, the mother of a one-year-old girl, agrees with the proposal.

"I don't even smoke in front of my daughter," said Atrill. "I don't think it's appropriate to model that behaviour, never mind to pollute your child's air space. Smoking is an addiction that people have and if they want to smoke that's their own choice, but a child doesn't have a choice whether they inhale second-hand smoke or not.

"And it's up to the parents to make sure that their child's environment is safe and healthy."

A spokeswoman for the B.C. Civil Liberties Association said it does not have a "ready position" on the proposal.

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=455c3991-eb8d-4964-843

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It's time to debate a ban on smoking in vehicles carrying children

Vancouver Sun, August 25, 2007

There seems little doubt that it is harmful for children -- or adults -- to be in a car with someone who is smoking. According to the B.C. Ministry of Health, smoking in a small, enclosed space like a car is 23 times more toxic than in a house.

The ministry points out that children are especially vulnerable to second-hand smoke. Their lungs are smaller, they breathe more quickly than adults and their immune systems are less developed.

Babies exposed to second-hand smoke are more likely to die of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Children also have less control over their environments, less understanding of the risks and less ability to complain. In addition, the children of parents who smoke are almost twice as likely to start smoking than children of non-smokers.

Provincial governments in Canada have also accepted as a principle that the state should protect children who are at risk of harm, even when that harm comes from the actions of their parents or legal guardians.

All of this supports the call this week by the Canadian Medical Association for a ban on smoking in vehicles carrying children. After all, if we can through government regulation increase the chance that children will grow up to become healthy adults, why not do so?

But smoking in cars is not the only thing parents do that can be construed as harmful to their children.

Smoking in the home is another. As are allowing them to eat junk food or to become obese through poor diets and a lack of exercise.

How about regulating the amount of time children spend in front of a computer or watching television?

It's not easy to make hard and fast rules about when the right of parents to raise their children as they see fit should be overruled by the state.

In this case, the vast majority of smokers are aware of the risks they assume for themselves.

So it's likely that parents who smoke in the car with their children or who allow others to smoke have already heard the message that they are putting their children at risk.

If they are willing to ignore that message, it may be time for the state to step in to protect children who are not in a position to protect themselves.

One thing that is clear here is that the scale on which we judge these issues is not fixed. It changes over time, as our knowledge of the hazards evolves along with societal norms.

Fifty years ago, the state did not presume to tell parents that they had to use seatbelts for their children, much less car seats for infants. Now the B.C. government has brought in legislation that will require booster seats for children as old as nine.

This limit on the unfettered right of parents to decide what is right for their children was enacted this spring with virtually no opposition.

Our guess is that a ban on smoking in vehicles carrying children would get similar support. It's time for that debate.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=41d12c68-46