Countries initiate efforts to prohibit smoking within vehicles
In a renewed effort to protect the health of minors and unborn children, the North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) health ministry has reintroduced a proposal to ban smoking in cars when children or pregnant women are present. This proposal will be discussed in the state chamber on September 26, 2022.
The draft suggests that tobacco smoke pollution in closed passenger compartments can reach levels multiple times greater than those found in heavily smoked pubs within a few minutes of smoking a single cigarette. This heightened exposure to secondhand smoke is associated with increased cancer risk, as well as other health issues such as damages to the lungs, growth disorders, and increased risk of cancer for minors.
Minors whose parents smoke are particularly at risk, with studies showing they are more likely to develop liver tumors or leukemia due to secondhand smoke exposure. Unborn children are also vulnerable, as they cannot protect themselves from the dangers of secondhand smoke.
For years, there have been initiatives by federal states to expand the non-smoking protection law. NRW and Lower Saxony, among others, have proposed an amendment to the federal non-smoking protection act to achieve the smoking ban in cars in the presence of minors or pregnant women.
The Bundesrat has already decided in March 2022 to submit a bill to the Bundestag to expand the non-smoking protection law. If approved by the Bundesrat, the bill will proceed to the Bundestag for further consideration.
Karl-Josef Laumann, the NRW health minister, stated that smoking in the presence of children or pregnant women in cars is irresponsible. He emphasised that the state has a special protective duty towards those who cannot protect themselves from secondhand smoke.
Expectations that smoking in cars in the presence of others would be voluntarily avoided have not been met, as stated in the bill. As a result, the proposal to ban smoking in cars when children or pregnant women are present is being reintroduced to the state chamber in North Rhine-Westphalia.
According to the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, currently around one million minors in Germany are exposed to tobacco smoke in cars. The hope is that this renewed proposal will help reduce that number and protect the health of minors and unborn children.
The discussion in the state chamber on September 26, 2022, marks a significant step towards potentially enacting a federal law that would ban smoking in cars when children or pregnant women are present. The impact of this law could be far-reaching, potentially saving lives and improving the health of countless minors and unborn children in Germany.
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