BS - Smoking in cars with kids

Subject: RE: BS - Smoking in cars with kids
From: Alice
Date: 19 Feb 09 - 06:58 PM

It's an excellent law.

Subject: RE: BS - Smoking in cars with kids
From: Joybell
Date: 19 Feb 09 - 04:13 PM

I think it's great too. I've said a lot on this subject. It's great is enough for now, from me.
Cheers, Joy

Subject: RE: BS - Smoking in cars with kids
From: gnu
Date: 19 Feb 09 - 04:07 PM

Ahem. Lets get back to the issue that really is in the news. The officer that issued that ticket has stated that he is scared about what may happen in future. In this instance, the law is so stunned that, sooner or later, someone is gonna get their ass kicked over it. And, it won't be the stunned politicians and do-gooders. It will be the officer who issues a ticket.

What's next? You can't smoke in yer own house?

Like the issuing officer said, this is gonna go bad eventually.

Subject: RE: BS - Smoking in cars with kids
From: CarolC
Date: 19 Feb 09 - 03:49 PM

When I was around the age of 13, we were all crammed into the family station wagon while on a long trip. This was back before the days of seatbelts, and so there were two kids and a baby lying in a made up bed in the back of the station wagon. My mother was smoking, and she had her window open (this was also before most cars had air conditioners). A big chunk of burning cigarette flew off and into the open back window, landing right near my baby brother's hand. He picked it up and put it in his mouth. Of course, my mother, being an unrepentant cigarette addict, blamed it on those of us in the back who weren't able to get to the ember before my brother did, rather than on her own filthy addiction. (The fact that she thought it reasonable to expect her children to pick up a piece of burning cigarette in our bare hands also ought to tell people something about the nature of cigarette addiction.)

I think it's a great law.

Subject: RE: BS - Smoking in cars with kids
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 Feb 09 - 03:38 PM

I agree, Becca. Here's new evidence that smoking, even away from children, can be harmful to them:

We've all heard about the dangers of second hand smoke - but did you know that third hand smoke can also be harmful to your child? "Third hand smoke is the residual toxin and particles that's left behind after a cigarette has been extinguished."

Doctor Tamara Berry says besides being absorbed into the clothes and hair of the smoker, the poisons in the third hand smoke are left behind on things like the sofa, your child's soft cloth toys, their clothes, your carpet --- items your child touches and even put in their mouth.

If someone smokes in the car, even when the children are not in the car, the toxin filled smoke clings to the upholstery of the vehicle and the cloth of the car seat, something your child sits in several times a day.

Yes, your child may not be directly inhaling smoke, but Doctor Berry says they are being exposed to the same harsh chemicals. "Well there are no differences in the poisons that are found in second hand and third hand smoke. Generally speaking, the poisons that are found in cigarette smoke include things such as carbon monoxide, lead, toluene and other contaminants or poisons that we generally try to keep away from our children."

Third hand smoke is especially dangerous to children who already suffer from respiratory problems, such as asthma. "Those exposures can lead to more flairs of asthma, more cold symptoms, hospitalizations are increased for those children who are exposed to second and third hand smoke especially if they have a disease like asthma."

Doctor Bryan Burke says the best way to protect your child is to prohibit smoking in the house and car. Ask family members to wear a jacket when smoking outdoors that they can remove and hang in the carport or garage before coming back into the house. And if you're thinking open windows, air purifiers and fans will allow you to smoke indoors and keep smoke away from children, that's just not the case.

Smoking is an addiction. It's not easy to quit and often requires the help of your doctor. But bringing up children in a smoke free home is one of the most significant contributions to your child's health that you as a parent can make.

Subject: RE: BS - Smoking in cars with kids
From: Becca72
Date: 19 Feb 09 - 03:27 PM

Here in Maine you have to be 18 to buy cigarettes and we also passed a law late last year forbidding smoking in the car if any person in said car is under 16. I absolutely agree with both laws and feel that in the situation above the officer should have been able to ticket the 15 year old (if it's illegal for children to buy them and illegal for adults to supply children with them how did they legally obtain the butts??)

Subject: RE: BS - Smoking in cars with kids
From: Peace
Date: 19 Feb 09 - 03:21 PM

"They're starting to pass laws in Texas that forbid the use of cell phones in school zones."

How will the kids talk with each other?

*****************************************************

John, John, John. (Sigh.)

Subject: RE: BS - Smoking in cars with kids
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 19 Feb 09 - 03:14 PM

Smoked salmon yes
Smoked cheese yes
Smoked eel Yes indeed
Smoked kids No way.

Subject: RE: BS - Smoking in cars with kids
From: Wesley S
Date: 19 Feb 09 - 03:01 PM

They're starting to pass laws in Texas that forbid the use of cell phones in school zones. That's another good idea....

Subject: RE: BS - Smoking in cars with kids
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 19 Feb 09 - 02:52 PM

arrgghhh! Joe! I have been craving a ciggie lately. It happens every so often. How do you manage to smoke only one a year? I think if I picked up one, I would be hooked again. Like eating only one Lays potato chip.

Damn... back to the Jingle thread.

Subject: RE: BS - Smoking in cars with kids
From: Peace
Date: 19 Feb 09 - 02:50 PM

Second-hand smoke is NOT good for people, especially kids. I like the law.

I've been a smoker since I was nine with two years not smoking when I was in my forties. I'm now 61. That's 50 years. Smoking sucks, imo.

Subject: RE: BS - Smoking in cars with kids
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Feb 09 - 02:46 PM

Well, OK, so there's a loophole that creates an absurd situation in very rare instances. Such is life. I suppose somebody could go to great lengths to pass a law to prevent such absurdity, but maybe it's better to accept a bit of absurdity in our legislation.

As long as vegetable matter burns, kids are going to try smoking. I don't think that's horrible. If cigarettes are readily available to them, kids are going to get addicted to smoking - and that's a bad thing.

And even if they don't smoke, it's bad for kids to be in a closed environment that's full of smoke, so I think it's wise to pass a law prohibiting smoking in a car with kids present. Presumably, adult passengers can complain and get the smoker to refrain, but the kid aren't as likely to.

I tried to give up smoking for 20 years, with constant relapses. I finally succeeded when I was no longer in an environment where there were people smoking all around me. So, I'm glad that legislation has restricted smoking. But still, I bum a cigarette about once a year. It tastes so good when I'm drinking with friends.

I suppose an absolutist or a legalist would have trouble with the conflicts and inconsistencies caused by the various laws in Ontario (or wherever). But hey, is life consistent?

-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS - Smoking in cars with kids
From: Sleepy Rosie
Date: 19 Feb 09 - 02:21 PM

Ahh, but I do think that you shouldn't be able to buy cigarretes before age 18 minimum. Preferably 21.
If the state legally sanctions children becoming addicts, what value is there is criminalising those who smoke near them!

Subject: RE: BS - Smoking in cars with kids
From: Sleepy Rosie
Date: 19 Feb 09 - 02:17 PM

OTT! What police state crapola!
Yours, someone who has never smoked.

Subject: RE: BS - Smoking in cars with kids
From: Wesley S
Date: 19 Feb 09 - 02:15 PM

Neither one should be smoking. It sounds like a great law to me. Lets hope we pass one just like it in the US.

Subject: BS - Smoking in cars with kids
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 19 Feb 09 - 01:58 PM

Ontario has recently added another anti-smoking law. No one is allowed to smoke in a car if any of the passengers is under 16 years old. The second person to be ticketed for this was a smoking driver who had a fifteen year old smoker in his car. While the driver was being ticketed, the fifteen year old girl stepped out of the car and lit up a smoke. In Ontario it is legal for children to smoke; it's just not legal to give or sell cigarettes to anyone under 19 years. Does this mean that in a car carrying a passenger under 16, the passenger is allowed to smoke, but the driver isn't?

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Jim, you've been around for a fairly long time, but you don't post as a registered member - and only registered members are allowed to start non-music (BS) threads. I'll let this one go, but maybe you should think about registering.
-Joe Offer, Forum Moderator-
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