Smoking in Cars Carrying Children Should be Banned

“Recently I proposed that smoking in cars should be banned. I also stated that parents should be supported to protect their children from exposure to second hand smoke, by making their homes and cars smoke free. Many people were against of this, but it was an important issue to open,” said Dr Tony Jewell, Wales’ chief medical officer.

Smoking continues to be the major cause of 5,650 premature deaths in Wales every year and it is also a cause for the gap in mean life between rich and poor.
It was calculated that smoking cost Wales £386m in 2007-08. This is equal to£129 per capita or 7% of the total healthcare expenditure.
Second-hand smoke produces a great impact on everyone, but without a doubt it is mostly affecting children whose lungs are still developing.
Those children who are exposed to second hand smoke have a great chance to have middle-ear infections, asthma and sudden infant death syndrome also known as cot death. Also these children are more likely to start smoking in adulthood.

The majority of people think that tobacco smoke will not affect children, if smoking with an open window or in another room. But second-hand smoke doesn’t remain in that room, it is spearing from room to room.
Just opening a window in a car will not extract all the smoke, it will simply blow all that smoke directly into the back seat.
A recently conducted Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) Wales conference in Cardiff gathered tobacco control practicians from all over the world.

There are many countries around the world that implement various tobacco control measures by means of smoke-free legislation; severe regulation on advertising and sale of cigarettes, and not the least but the last a better support for people who want to quit this habit.  

Wales was the second country in the United Kingdom that adopted smoke-free legislation in 2007. It was very successful in its main task to protect people from exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke.
“I heard from many people that they even can’t imagine being in a restaurant or bar filled with smoke. I hope that soon smoking in cars with children will be prohibited; it is not an invasion on privacy, but a way to protect children from unnecessary harm, said Dr. Jewell.

For instance Canada has adopted a ban on smoking in cars in Ontario.
Finland has implemented a goal of a smoke-free nation by 2040. It is aimed on preventing young people from starting smoking now, so there won’t be smokers in future.
Both these countries have a significantly lower level of smoking than Wales, about 24% of the Welsh population are smokers.
“I am proud of what we have gained so far, but there is a lot work to do in order to achieve a smoke-free society for Wales,” Dr. Jewell concluded.