Should having a fag in your car become a criminal offense ?.

[Uncle Spielberg]

The Government propose to make all smoking in the privacy of you car illegal and a criminal offense. This is on the basis of having a kid in the car but a blanket ban will apply. As a smoker or non smoker is this the right way to go ?.

 

[sten_super]

Yes. It is a drug with no proven benefits that has significant downsides. I don't see why they don't ban it altogether

edit: and yes, I am a non-smoker, although I have partaken from time to time.

 

[The Wizard]

Yes. It is a drug with no proven benefits that has significant downsides. I don't see why they don't ban it altogether

edit: and yes, I am a non-smoker, although I have partaken from time to time.

They won't do that though, think of the glorious money they would lose.

 

[ali jenkins]

If you cant eat or drink while your driving then why shold you be able to smoke?

But if Im being honest, I dont think Smoking should be illigal in your car, nor should eating and drinking while your driving, or using a mobile. (I fully exect someone to tell me that you are allowed to eat and drink while you drive)

Aslong as your driving safely then why should it be illegal?

For the record, Im NOT a smoker

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

They won't ban it as they get £ 7 000 000 000 a year tax revenues.

 

[REDLAND]

Personally I don't really see the difference between smoking and using a mobile in a car...

 

[Easy 10]

This'll be a real Marmite jobbie.

I'm not a smoker, but personally I think people should be able to make their own decisions in their own car. The government seems to insist on poking its nose into every aspect of our lifestyles, telling us what we can and can't do, what we should and shouldn't do. We're already f***ed six ways from Sunday by this government one way or the other, so just piss off and let us live our lives how WE see fit ffs.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Smoking should be banned in all cars as well as in public places where young people congregate, doctors are urging.

The Royal College of Physicians wants England's imminent review of anti-smoking laws to consider such measures to protect the young.

It says passive smoking results in 300,000 extra child visits to GPs in the UK every year for problems such as asthma and bacterial meningitis.

But driving and smoking lobby groups say cars are a "private space".

Wheezing

A number of medical bodies have supported a ban on smoking in cars transporting children, but the RCP goes a significant step further, urging a blanket ban on anyone lighting up in a vehicle - regardless of whether children or indeed any other passengers are inside.


This report isn't just about protecting children from passive smoking, it's about taking smoking completely out of children's lives

Professor John Britton
RCP
It is calling for a two-pronged approach which would see children protected from second-hand smoke and shielded from the sight of adults smoking - whether in the playground or on the TV.

The RCP's report - Passive Smoking and Children - is being released ahead of the three-year review of the ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces in England. Similar bans have been introduced across the UK, with Scotland having led the way.

Drawing on a series of studies, the report suggests that in the UK, tens of thousands of youngsters are falling ill as a result of exposure to cigarette smoke.

Exclusion zones

These calculations include 20,000 chest infections, some 22,000 new cases of asthma and wheezing, as well as 200 cases of bacterial meningitis and 40 cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome - or cot death.

Each year it claims these account for more than 300,000 visits to a GP - some of which end up in hospital - costing the NHS £23.3m.

The car is a private space and it crosses a line to start interfering in it, however much one disapproves of smoking

Nigel Humphries
Association of British Drivers
The report does concede that these figures are only estimates, but says it is confident they give an "indication" of the number of children who become ill.

The doctors acknowledge that a ban on smoking in the home, however desirable it believes this to be, would be neither politically or practically possible, but sees the car as an intervention in the private sphere which the public would tolerate.

But it argues that the only way to make it practically enforceable would be to introduce it as a blanket ban on all private vehicles - regardless of their passengers, as exemptions would prove too complex.

In addition, it wants to see smoking banned in places frequented by children, such as parks and outdoor swimming pools - and exclusion zones outside school gates.

Campaigns to explain to parents the importance of a smoke-free home, price hikes and generic cigarette packaging are also among the recommendations issued.

"This report isn't just about protecting children from passive smoking, it's about taking smoking completely out of children's lives," says Professor John Britton, head of the college's Tobacco Advisory Group and lead author of the report.

Parental responsibility


Ex-smoker: "Giving up stopped my child's asthma"
A Department of Health spokesman stressed the role that anti-smoking legislation had played in curbing exposure, but added: "The government is looking at ways to go further to reduce the 9,500 children admitted to hospital every year as a direct result of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke.

"Parents have a responsibility to protect their children by stopping smoking around them in enclosed spaces like their cars and in their homes."

The Welsh Assembly Government said it had commissioned a tobacco control group to advise specifically on how to protect children, while a Scottish Government spokeswoman said it was conscious smoking in cars was a source of exposure that needed highlighting but had no plans for a ban. Northern Ireland is to conduct its own review.

The driving and smoking lobby groups expressed their anger at the recommendations, arguing that adults did not needs laws regulating every aspect of their behaviour.

Simon Clark, of Forest, which campaigns for smokers' rights, questioned the figures used in the report, noting that cases of asthma had been rising as the number of smokers had fallen.


HAVE YOUR SAY It's bad enough having a government that wants to micro-manage our lives, without the medical fraternity climbing on the bandwagon
Darkseid
Send us your comments "It's unacceptable to single out smokers and imply that they are solely responsible for the cost of asthma treatments, hospital admissions and asthma drugs for children up to the age of 16.

"We want smokers to be considerate towards those around them, especially children, but changing people's behaviour should be achieved by education and encouragement not by legislation and enforcement."

Nigel Humphries, spokesman for the Association of British Drivers, said the car should be seen as an extension of the home and treated as such.

"The car is a private space and it crosses a line to start interfering in it, however much one disapproves of smoking."

 

[The Spanish]

Yes. It is a drug with no proven benefits that has significant downsides. I don't see why they don't ban it altogether

edit: and yes, I am a non-smoker, although I have partaken from time to time.

Really? Unilateral prohibition in the face of widespread neighbouring availibility and already criminal involvement in tobacco smuggling, in a global economy, and you dont see any potential pitfalls in that simple yet obviously to you foolproof plan?

 

[strings]

ali speaks sense. If eating and drinking in the car isn't allowed, surely smoking shouldn't be allowed either. I disagree with him about the mobile phones, but surely smoking is just as distracting as eating and drinking.

 

[The Grockle]

It’s the 21st century I think you should be allowed to have anyone you like in your car whatever their orientation.

 

[Icy Gull]

Couples arguing in a car is far worse imo.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

I don't believe the stats I think they are lying. Do people want to live in a Police state as this is pretty much what this country is fast becoming.

 

[Scampi]

drive)

Aslong as your driving safely then why should it be illegal?

r

I think the argument is that people are very poor judges of how various actions affect their driving. Simply put most people underestimate how much using a phone for example takes their attention away from the road.

 

[bhaexpress]

Yes. It is a drug with no proven benefits that has significant downsides. I don't see why they don't ban it altogether

edit: and yes, I am a non-smoker, although I have partaken from time to time.

As already mentioned the government can't afford to lose the tax and look what alcohol prohibition did for America.

 

[Mellotron]

just piss off and let us live our lives how WE see fit ffs.

There are FAR too many thickets in England for that to work. It would be absolute chaos.

 

[little al]

Children in a car is far more distracting.

 

[bhaexpress]

If you're on your own, in your own car, no, what next ? No smoking in your home ?

 

[maffew]

ali speaks sense. If eating and drinking in the car isn't allowed, surely smoking shouldn't be allowed either. I disagree with him about the mobile phones, but surely smoking is just as distracting as eating and drinking.

Well it just boils down to if you are driving without due care and attention IMO

Should you be allowed to change the radio channel?

Dont think you should ban people from smoking in their own car its getting silly now

 

[Stoo82]

If you're on your own, in your own car, no, what next ? No smoking in your home ?

This has already been banned. If you have anyone being employed entering your home. (cleaner or builder or some such).

Governemnt should stay the f*** out of our lives.