Main Category: Smoking / Quit Smoking
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health; Seniors / Aging
Article Date: 16 Nov 2011 - 5:00 PST
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The British Medical Association is calling for a total ban on smoking in private motor vehicles, setting out what it describes as "compelling evidence" to support such a move to protect the health of the public, and vulnerable groups such as children and the elderly in particular.
In a press statement issued on Wednesday, the voluntary professional association, which counts two-thirds of practising UK doctors among its members, said it has prepared a briefing paper that shows how people are vulnerable to the toxic effects of second-hand smoke in cars.
The BMA's Board of Science produced the briefing paper in response to a motion debated at the association's 2011 Annual Representative Meeting, where members overwhelmingly supported the call for legislation to ban smoking in private motor vehicles.
Vivienne Nathanson, director of professional activities at the BMA, said the UK took a "huge step" in banning smoking in enclosed public places, but it can do more.
"We are calling on UK governments to take the bold and courageous step of banning smoking in private vehicles. The evidence for extending the smoke-free legislation is compelling."
An estimated hundreds of thousands of people around the world, including 4,000 adults and 23 children in the UK, die each year because of second-hand smoke, says the briefing paper.
It also describes how second-hand smoke in vehicles can produce toxin levels that are sometimes 23 times higher than those in smoky bars, and how children are more vulnerable to second-hand smoke: they absorb more toxins because of their size and they have underdeveloped immune systems.
The elderly are another vulnerable group because they tend to have more respiratory problems that are aggravated by breathing in second-hand smoke.
Apart from this, smoking is a potential road safety hazard because it distracts drivers, says the paper.
Keith Reid, co-chair of the BMA public health medicine committee, said the state has a responsibility to protect children and a ban on smoking in cars would strengthen the message that children are harmed when other people smoke around them.
"The evidence suggests that the most feasible way to accomplish this is to implement a complete ban on smoking in motor vehicles," said Reid.
The House of Commons All-Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health is currently reviewing changes in exisiting legislation to reduce levels of smoking.
According to the BBC, they said calling for an immediate ban on smoking in cars could be "counterproductive", and it was necessary to build consensus around the country first. Part of such a process should be a consultation phase that asks whether it is better to have an outright ban or whether more can be done through awareness and education.
The group held an Inquiry in response to Stockton North Labour MP Alex Cunningham's private members bill calling for a ban on smoking in private vehicles where there are children on board. They concluded that there should be a review of the evidence on potential harms to children and adults from second-hand smoke in cars.
The bill is scheduled to have its second reading this week.
Douglas Noble, who chairs the BMA's Public Health Medicine Committee, said he hoped there would be time for the bill to be heard. He said his members want to see it debated, and that the BMA briefing paper shows "how much the medical community is behind the ban".
The smokers' lobby group Forest has spoken out against a ban. Director Simon Clark said they "don't condone people smoking in cars with children present", because it is "inconsiderate", but they don't agree that the evidence shows there is a serious risk to children's health from second-hand smoke in cars.
"Legislation is a gross over-reaction. What next, a ban on smoking in the home?" said Clark.
The UK is not alone in considering this move: some countries have done it already. It is against the law to smoke in cars with children present in parts of Canada, Australia and the US, plus all of South Africa. However, in these countries, the focus is on preventing children from being exposed to second-hand smoke.
Written by Catharine Paddock PhD
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today
MLA
8 Dec. 2011.
Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.
posted by John Formby on 16 Nov 2011 at 5:43 am
we dont force people to sit in cars with people who do smoke so this theoretically is against human rights. I aknowledge theat under 16s may not have a choice and possibly some elderly or vulnerable people with health or medical conditions, which would granted benfit these gropups but to target a population on mass is contrary to freedom of civil liberty. I suppport prevention initiatives but this whole premise is floored. What about the alcohol problem in this country, which is far greater and more costly to society. should we ban drinking?
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posted by paul phillips on 16 Nov 2011 at 6:06 am
I think to ban smoking in cars is an excellent one but only when children are present. Parents should have more sense than to smoke in such a confined space and smoke around their children, it shouldnt take a law to prevent this but its going to.The ban should not be in force if only the driver or another smoker is present in the car as the only place theyll have left to smoke soon is their own houses and seems as the government continue to take such high taxes from smoking they cant go overboard.
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posted by Regall on 16 Nov 2011 at 7:12 am
I've been a smoker for some time now. My First reaction...Extort money out of smokers in form of elevated tax and then dictate the terms. Fine.
Now, every smoker who smokes in car knows this....the stinks stays in for long time. It doesn't matter even if the windows are kept open (which happens less in winter). The report might be right as on longer motorway runs, I've experienced headaches, being dizzy due to smoking quite a few ciggys. Might be a factor as the report reads. I drive all myself and normally don't have any passengers.
Inspite of this, I'd want to make that choice for myself if I drive a personal car. Where it's a common family car, the report makes sense. Irrespective of what the smokers think, I'd not be surprised to see this being implemented soon. Feel sorry for those truckers and long runners who smoke in cabin.....
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posted by Ponder on 16 Nov 2011 at 7:36 am
Go ahead, spend another trillion dollars chasing down people using a legal product in their own cars. My Car My Rules, anyone who crosses that line, gets ignored and voted against.
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posted by British Heart Foundation on 16 Nov 2011 at 8:30 am
Maura Gillespie, Head of Policy and Advocacy at the British Heart Foundation, said:
“Passengers in smoke filled cars, including children, breathe in more pollutants than anywhere else.
“There is already clear evidence that passive smoking increases the risk of a number of serious health problems. Children especially need to be protected from the damaging effects of other people smoking in cars.
“All governments across the UK should consider what measures can be taken to reduce exposure to second-hand smoke in cars. We would, of course, support any legislation that protects our kids from adults’ lethal habits.”
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posted by Denise Tallon on 16 Nov 2011 at 1:28 pm
My children are now adults & i do not take any small children in my car. when my children were little i did not smoke around them anywhere. I disagree strongly with this idea, if i wish to smoke in my car when i pay for it i will i am sick & tired of people telling other i people what to do. It's my choice to smoke as an adult fully aware of all the facts.
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posted by phil jones on 16 Nov 2011 at 3:40 pm
hi, if they try to bring into law this latest attack on smokers, i will protest and would march, iam a smoker, my partner is also, the thought that police would pull me over and fine me does break the camels back, this is my space, what next my house.
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posted by T on 17 Nov 2011 at 12:52 am
i think to ban smoking in a car when children are present would be a really good thing. However i think it is wrong to impose this ban fully when smokers are just in their own pressance in their own car.
Like someone else said,'whats next! Our own homes'?
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