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Group to continue fight for ban on smoking in cars 

AN anti-smoking lobby group will continue to lobby for smoking to be banned in cars to protect children, despite failing to persuade the Government to introduce the prohibition.

ASH Ireland launched the campaign to outlaw smoking in cars last February, after a study revealed children were breathing in deadly amounts of tobacco fumes when travelling in cars with parents who smoke.

The lobby group believed a study by the Tobacco Research Unit in Ontario, Canada, was more than enough to convince the Government to introduce a car smoking ban to protect children under the age of 16.

The study had revealed children who travel in cars while their parents smoke are breathing in air containing 100 times the "safe" level of pollution.

And it further showed children are still at risk from harmful levels of pollutants, even if parents opened the windows or put on air conditioning while smoking.

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Smoking Ban In State Cars Among New N.C. Laws  

Starting Thursday, North Carolina state employees can no longer light up inside state-owned or leased vehicles, as the new year brings more than a dozen new state laws into effect. . . .

The smoking ban inside state-operated vehicles is the latest tobacco restriction within North Carolina's government. A year ago, thousands of state government buildings became smoke-free. Smoking also has been banned in recent years inside prisons and adult care and nursing homes.

Despite North Carolina's tobacco heritage, state workers appear to be taking the latest prohibition in stride, said Jill Lucas, a spokeswoman for the Department of Administration, which maintains a fleet of more than 8,600 state vehicles.

"I don't know if the culture of smoking has changed so much in recent years that people (already) don't smoke in their private car or in their private home," Lucas said. "People who smoke are accustomed to these kind of expectations, and now it's going to be law."

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• Children's Secondhand Smoke Exposure in Private Homes and Cars: An Ethical Analysis  

In response to the growing body of scientific literature linking SHS with serious diseases, many countries, states, and cities have established policies mandating smoke-free public spaces. Yet thousands of children remain unprotected from exposure to SHS in private homes and cars.

New initiatives targeting SHS in these spaces have raised ethical questions about imposing constraints on private behavior. We reviewed legislation and court cases related to such initiatives and used a principlist approach to analyze the ethical implications of policies banning smoking in private cars and homes in which children are present.

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Versailles' car blast caused by cigarette  

Fire officials in Virginia believe a cigarette is to blame for the deadly vehicle fire that claimed the life of a former Greenwich restaurateur.

Maurice Jean Clos-Versailles, 64, died on Dec. 11 after his GMC Yukon burst into flames in Gordonsville, Va. He was the owner of Versailles Restaurant on Greenwich Avenue and had moved to Virginia in 2006, according to Ablemarle County Fire Marshal's Office.

"As it appears now there was a liquid petroleum gas leak inside the vehicle that ignited by a cigarette," said James Barber, Fire Marshal and Assistant Fire Chief with the Albemarle County Department of Fire Rescue.

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Wales | Cabbie's smoking appeal is lost 

A taxi driver has lost his appeal against a conviction for smoking in his cab.

Michael Dixon, 43, from Llandudno, Conwy, denied the offence and claimed a council dog warden reported him because of a vendetta.

He initially told the warden he was allowed to smoke due to his Rastafarian religion but later said that was just a joke, Mold Crown Court was told.

The appeal was dismissed and his £60 fine with £140 costs stands.

Giving evidence, council dog warden David Lightfoot denied he was conducting a personal vendetta against smokers and said that he smoked cigars himself.

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Call for ban on smoking in cars 

be banned in cars transporting children under 16, an anti-smoking lobby group has said.

Ash Ireland said there was irrefutable evidence to show that children in cars where adults smoked were being put at risk. A ban on smoking in cars carrying children had already been implemented in a number of states in the US, Canada, Cyprus and Australia.

"There is an abundance of evidence to show that passive smoke can reach very high levels in motor vehicles - and as children have higher respiratory rates and metabolism than adults , the risks for them are greatly enhanced," Dr Angie Brown, chairwoman of Ash Ireland, said.

The organisation launched a campaign calling for the ban in February of this year and yesterday it said it was very disappointed it had not received a positive response from the Government.

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Ash disappointed at Government inaction on smoking  

The anti-smoking lobby group Ash Ireland has expressed disappointment at the failure of its plan to ban smoking in cars transporting children to garner Government support.

Ash has sought the ban because there is an "abundance of evidence" to show that the levels of passive smoke in a car can be very high and as have higher respiratory rates and metabolism than adults they face higher risks. The group has requested that smoking be banned in cars carrying children aged under 16.

Dr Angie Brown, Ash Ireland chairperson, called on the "Government and especially our Minister for Health & Children to consider this issue again in early 2009".

The body is also disappointed that there has been so little progress on removing tobacco from the consumer price index.

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MP says Govt's smoking laws not enough  

The Nationals' Member for Northern Victoria, Damien Drum, says the State Government's new smoking laws do not do enough to stop young people lighting their first cigarette.

Smoking in cars carrying children will be banned from 2010, and retailers will be banned from advertising tobacco at the point of sale from 2011.

The Government will also ban smoking on school grounds.

Mr Drum says the laws could be brought in earlier and do not do enough.

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• Smoking at the wheel affects drivers  

MOTORISTS in Cambridgeshire who smoke at the wheel are aggressive and severely distracted, a new survey reveals.

According to research by Autoglass, drivers in East Anglia are among the worst in the country for causing accidents while smoking.

Research sows three quarters of smokers say their driving is negatively affected by smoking at the wheel, with six out of 10 admitting they become distracted when flicking ash out of the window.

Two thirds take their eyes off the road when lighting-up while three out of 10 admit to not concentrating when trying to find their cigarettes.

The Autoglass poll, which questioned 3,000 drivers, also reveals that seven out of 10 drivers think smoking at the wheel is dangerous and should be banned.

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Anti-smoking group welcomes new bans  

Anti-smoking campaigners have welcomed new bans to be introduced in Victoria.

The Victorian Government will ban point-of-sale cigarette advertising and smoking in cars carrying children.

It will also become illegal to smoke on public school grounds.

Quit Victoria policy manager Kylie Lindorff says it is hoped the new advertising restrictions will lead to fewer children taking up smoking.

"It's advertised like it's a normal product - it's near lollies, it's near milk and bread," she said.

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State Government bans smoking in cars with kids from 2010 

VICTORIANS will be banned from smoking in cars with kids and cigarettes will no longer be displayed in shops under tough new laws.

The State Government hopes the new laws, announced today, will help cut smoking rates in Victoria by 20 per cent by 2013.

But the ban on smoking in cars with children under the age of 18 will not come into effect until January 2010, while the ban on point-of-sale displays of cigarettes will be mandatory from January 2011.

Health Minister Daniel Andrews said other measures in the Victorian Tobacco Control Strategy 2008 - 2013 includes $22 million in funding for anti-smoking ads, making public school grounds smoke-free by July 1, 2009 and a boost to services to high-risk groups quit smoking.

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Victorian smokers in cars get a reprieve  

SMOKERS will be free to light up in cars carrying children for another year, under Victoria's slow-moving reforms.

The State Government will also take two years to remove cigarette displays from shop counters, under the long-awaited Tobacco Control Strategy 2008-13 announced yesterday.

Health Minister Daniel Andrews said anyone caught smoking in a car containing under-18s would be fined $220 to $560 from January 2010.

South Australia, Tasmania, New South Wales and Queensland have already introduced such bans.

Mr Andrews blamed the delay on the time needed to get enforcement legislation through State Parliament.

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Children at risk from passive smoking in cars 

The latest debate is not the harmful effects of smoking, but ironically, whether smoking in cars is legitimate or not.

For those who consider it legitimate, cars are a private and not a public place, while for those who argue otherwise, the action exposes children to passive smoke.

Accord to recent reports, UAE tobacco laws have been delayed and are unlikely to be passed this year, which is two years after the initial intended deadline.

Although cars are considered by most as a private place, the draft law also addresses protection of minors against second-hand smoke.

In a recent Gulf News poll, 58 per cent of respondents said that smoking should be banned in cars, . . .

City Talk took to the streets and asked residents if smoking in cars should be banned in order to protect children from second hand smoke and if smoking should also be banned in all places where children may be, such as parks.

"If there are children in the car then smoking should not be allowed inside,"

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Official sees more delays for anti-tobacco laws 

Dubai: UAE tobacco laws are unlikely to be passed this year, two years after the initial intended deadline.

The Ministry of Health at first expected the country to have its first comprehensive tobacco-control laws by the end of 2006, in keeping with the UAE's commitment to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC).

Federal National Council debates on the proposed legislation were slated for November 11 this year, but got delayed due to the summer holidays and Ramadan. Dr Wedad Al Maidoor, head of the National Tobacco Control Committee, told Gulf News the debate has now been delayed till further notice. "In November, they promised to discuss the law, but it did not happen because other issues came in the middle of (November) - the financial crisis," she said.

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• Campus smoking ban may be revised  

The outdoor-smoking ban at Pennsylvania's state-owned universities that had some people fuming three months ago at Kutztown University could be modified, administrators said Wednesday.

A change proposed by the State System of Higher Education would allow puffing in cars as long as the windows are closed, along the sidewalks of public roads that pass through campuses and on the fringes of the 14 universities' grounds, said system spokesman Kenn Marshall.

At Kutztown, the modifications would mean employees and students could smoke along Main Street, which cuts through the Berks County campus, as long as they stay on public property.

The system is also considering adding receptacles for cigarette butts on the outskirts of campuses where smokers have tended to congregate, Marshall said.

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