Smoking in cars update
Maine bans smoking in autos with children
April 18th, 2008
Posted by Susan Markel, M.D.
It is now against Maine state law to smoke in cars that are carrying children under the age of 16.
What do you think abut this law, wherein police can now stop drivers who are smoking in a vehicle where passengers younger than 16 are present? Gov. John Baldacci, surrounded by supporters, signed the bill last week, saying that tobacco use costs too many lives and too much money. He said children are especially at risk — but they don’t have a choice of whether to be exposed to secondhand smoke.
Violators will get a 50-dollar fine for a first offense. Repeat offenses are a lot more expensive.
This is one of the most restrictive smoking bans in the country. Dr. Jonathan Shenkin, who drove the push to regulate smoking in cars, says that while Maine’s is not the first law of its kind, it goes further than any other effort to curb children’s exposure to secondhand smoke.
“In a car, they’re strapped in and there’s no escape,” Shenkin says. Shenkin is a pediatric dentist and a professor of health policy at Boston University’s school of dentistry.
Children are most vulnerable when they’re strapped into a smoke-filled car, Shenkin says. According to a Harvard University study that Shenkin cites, secondhand smoke is present at far higher levels in a car than in a bar or restaurant that permits smoking.
In a car, he says, “You can actually have secondhand smoke levels that can be 12 to 15 times higher than in a home … [where children] can just walk out and go to the bedroom.”
A growing number of states have recognized the harm associated with exposure to secondhand smoke in confined spaces such as automobiles, and have moved to protect children from this risk. California, Arkansas and Louisiana, as well as Puerto Rico, have laws that ban adult smoking in automobiles when children are present.
April 19th, 2008
I’m afraid that the proposal to ban smoking in cars occupied by children represents an unwarranted intrusion into the privacy and autonomy of parenthood. The autonomy to make one’s own decision about risks to subject a child to is not to be interfered with lightly.
It should only be done in cases where there is a substantial threat of severe harm to the child. Interfering with parental autonomy in a case where there is only minor risk involved is unwarranted.
http://www.geocities.com/shelioness/smokinglawmaine.jpg
Thomas Laprade
Thunder Bay, Ont.
I’m afraid that the proposal to ban smoking in cars occupied by children represents an unwarranted intrusion into the privacy and autonomy of parenthood. The autonomy to make one’s own decision about risks to subject a child to is not to be interfered with lightly.
It should only be done in cases where there is a substantial threat of severe harm to the child. Interfering with parental autonomy in a case where there is only minor risk involved is unwarranted.
http://www.geocities.com/shelioness/smokinglawmaine.jpg
Thomas Laprade
Thunder Bay, Ont.
Real ID
March 25, 2008
Governor John Baldacci is asking the federal government not to penalize Maine travelers if the state fails to make driver’s licenses more secure.
Baldacci today sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It says Maine law prohibits the state from complying with the Real ID act. It asks that Maine residents not be penalized under federal rules that take effect on May 11. The federal government says it will impose new travel restrictions on residents of states that do not seek waivers from the Real ID act and will deny them access to federal buildings.
Next Monday is the deadline for states to request waivers that give them more time to comply with the Real ID act. (AP)
House Votes To Ban Smoking In Cars With Child Passengers
March 25, 2008
AUGUSTA, Maine — A bill to outlaw smoking in a car in which children under 16 are present won an initial vote of approval on Tuesday in the Maine House of Representatives. The bill, which faces further House and Senate votes, passed by a 92-47 vote.
Supporters said the bill seeks to protect children from the effects of secondhand smoke in enclosed areas, which can lead to ear infections, aggravate asthma and other respiratory ailments. They said avoiding exposure to smoke will save a lot of money in medical expenses.
Opponents urged lawmakers not to legislate what should be a common sense issue and said education is the best way to persuade smokers to change their habits.
Other states have passed similar laws, and some Canadian provinces are considering them. As of Tuesday, it will be against the law in Nova Scotia to smoke in a vehicle while children under 18 are present.
March 25, 2008
AUGUSTA, Maine — A bill to outlaw smoking in a car in which children under 16 are present won an initial vote of approval on Tuesday in the Maine House of Representatives. The bill, which faces further House and Senate votes, passed by a 92-47 vote.
Supporters said the bill seeks to protect children from the effects of secondhand smoke in enclosed areas, which can lead to ear infections, aggravate asthma and other respiratory ailments. They said avoiding exposure to smoke will save a lot of money in medical expenses.
Opponents urged lawmakers not to legislate what should be a common sense issue and said education is the best way to persuade smokers to change their habits.
Other states have passed similar laws, and some Canadian provinces are considering them. As of Tuesday, it will be against the law in Nova Scotia to smoke in a vehicle while children under 18 are present.
Committee approved ban on smoking in cars riding kids
January 30, 2008
AUGUSTA, Maine—A bill to ban smoking in cars when children are present has won a strong vote of support in committee, enhancing its chances of becoming Maine law.
more stories like thisThe Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee voted 12-1 yesterday in favor of the proposal, sending it to the House for a vote. Gov. John Baldacci says he would support it.
Two identical bills modeled after a Bangor city ordinance were presented to the committee. The panel chose the one sponsored by Republican Representative Brian Duprey of Hampden, who joined other supporters last week in defending it as a children’s health measure.
As modified by committee, the bill would make smoking in cars with children under age 16 a violation. For a year, police could issue warnings only, and after that they could write tickets for $50 or give warnings.
Efforts to outlaw smoking shift from public to private spaces
October 21, 2007
PORTLAND, Maine –Now that Maine’s public spaces such as workplaces, schools and restaurants have become virtually smoke-free, health advocates are looking to restrict smoking in private areas such as cars and apartments.
Bangor already outlaws smoking in cars with child passengers, and state Rep.
Patricia Blanchette has proposed a similar measure that would cover the entire state.
Patricia Blanchette has proposed a similar measure that would cover the entire state.
Meanwhile, a growing number of landlords and housing authorities are imposing no-smoking rules on their tenants. Tina Pettingill, who chairs the Smoke-Free Housing Coalition, estimates that 40 percent of Maine’s rental housing is smoke-free.
The coalition’s online registry lists 1,800 apartments, which Pettingill said is just a fraction of the number that should be on the list.
While health advocates are concerned about the dangers of smoking and inhalation of secondhand smoke, especially by children, the new approach is causing dismay among smokers and some civil libertarians.
“This is taking away people’s freedom of choice,” said David Burns, a building manager in Portland who smokes up to a pack of Pall Malls a day.
“It’s because of people who don’t smoke and don’t want other people to, either.”
“It’s because of people who don’t smoke and don’t want other people to, either.”
Groups such as the Maine Civil Liberties U nion have expressed concerns about the proposed smoking ban in cars, which involves traffic stops and $50 fines.
“While we do not dispute that smoking has potentially severe health effects, the question is whether it’s appropriate for law enforcement to be given the power to stop and penalize people who engage in an otherwise legal activity,” said Shenna Bellows, MCLU executive director. ban tramples on their rights.
Bangor’s ordinance took effect in January, but police have yet to issue any citations. Deputy Police Chief Peter Arno said that while smokers may be following the law, the department lacks the personnel to actively seek out offenders with roadblocks and special patrols.
The smoke-free housing coalition has no plans to seek legislation, according to Pettingill, who noted that the group has succeeded in convincing many landlords that making apartments smoke-free saves money on replacing burned carpets and removing tar from walls.
“We don’t even mention health,” she said. “It’s a business decision for them.”
A report being released Monday by the University of Maine says the cost of treating children for problems related to secondhand smoke is at least $8 million a year, two-thirds of which is borne by Medicaid.
“The health evidence is clear to me that secondhand smoke has proven ill effects,” said Mary Davis, the UMaine economist who wrote the report.
Motorists next goal of smoking ban supporters
10/14/2007
Cigarette smokers should be afraid that the latest anti-smoking effort in Maine is the next step on the way to banning smoking altogether.
First, the government and private industry banned smoking in places such as restaurants, schools, malls, airplanes, hospitals, many workplaces, government buildings and military facilities.
First, the government and private industry banned smoking in places such as restaurants, schools, malls, airplanes, hospitals, many workplaces, government buildings and military facilities.
Those moves, to protect nonsmokers from the dangerous health effects of secondhand smoke, are now being extended from the public sphere into the private. Earlier this year, Bangor became the first city in the nation to ban smoking in cars when a child under 18 is in the vehicle.
Now comes a proposal from one of the Bangor city councilors, Patricia Blanchette, who is also a state legislator — and a smoker. Blanchette, a Democrat who supported the Bangor measure, has introduced a bill in the state Legislature to ban smoking statewide in cars carrying children under 18.
It’s a good move. And it should scare the wits out of smokers.
Both Arkansas and Lousiana — states with high numbers of smokers — have passed smoking bans in cars carrying children. In other states, whole apartment complexes have gone non-smoking after tenants mounted efforts to do so. Landlords in New York whose tenants are exposed to secondhand smoke might be violating requirements to provide habitable apartments, according to a recent court ruling.
We’d understand if smokers in Maine felt threatened. They’d be justified in wondering, “What’s next? Are they going to try to stop me from smoking in my home?”
Indeed, that’s become an issue in child custody cases all around the county. One judge even awarded custody of a child to the father because the mother and her boyfriend both smoked.
It’s highly unlikely that this country — or individual states — would outright ban smoking. The tobacco lobby is too strong, the institution far too embedded in our culture. And a ban likely would result in an unenforceable law and a black market, not in the wholesale abandonment of smoking.
But what may be right and proper to allow an individual to do assumes a public profile when that individual’s actions affect those around them. Such is the case with smoking. Consider this statement from the U.S. Surgeon General’s most recent report on secondhand smoke:
“Secondhand smoke contains more than 50 cancer-causing chemicals, and is itself a known human carcinogen. Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke inhale many of the same toxins as smokers. Even brief exposure to secondhand smoke has immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and increases risk for heart disease and lung cancer, the report says. In addition … because the bodies of infants and children are still developing, they are especially vulnerable to the poisons in secondhand smoke.”
The public health risks of smoking create a legitimate public interest in regulating where and when that smoking can take place. Including on private property, such as a car.
We supported Bangor’s ban. We support a statewide ban on smoking in cars with children. Smoking is an addiction and we sympathize with those who have a hard time quitting. Yet the public’s tolerance for the price of secondhand smoke is diminishing and smokers will have to get used to that.
Statewide anti-smoking rule eyed
By Meg Haskell
October 05, 2007 – Bangor Daily News
BANGOR – The city’s ordinance against smoking in cars when a child is inside is headed for the State House.
City Councilor Patricia Blanchette, who is also a Democratic state representative, confirmed Thursday that she has submitted preliminary legislation to make Maine one of the first states to make it illegal to smoke in any vehicle when minors are present.
The statewide measure would mirror Bangor’s ordinance, making it a primary offense for anyone in a car to smoke when there is anyone under 18 in the car.
Violators could be fined $50. Bangor’s ordinance went into effect in January, supported by a 6-3 vote of the City Council, with Blanchette speaking forcefully in favor.
Several recent studies report that smoking in a car or other vehicle exposes everyone inside to dangerous levels of secondhand smoke, even when windows are open. Repeated exposure is linked to a number of chronic disorders in children, including ear infections, asthma and other ailments.
Blanchette, a half-pack-a-day smoker herself, said Thursday that many parents don’t realize the risks of smoking around their children.
“Adults can choose to smoke or not,” she said, “but that child doesn’t have any choice at all.”
Aside from the issue of children’s health, Blanchette said, the public cost of childhood exposure to secondhand smoke is “astronomical.” Emergency room visits, asthma medications and other costs add up quickly, she said, and are often covered by MaineCare, Maine’s Medicaid program.
“So we all pay for it,” she said.
Ed Miller, chief executive officer of the American Lung Association of Maine, said Thursday that national, state and local laws have done much to protect adults from the effects of secondhand smoke by banning smoking in public buildings, restaurants, bars, workplaces and other areas.
But Miller said these laws have not protected children, since their exposure typically takes place in homes and cars. The high levels of toxic gases that accumulate in a car when someone lights up constitute “involuntary smoking at its worst,” he said.
Miller thinks it’s important that a violation of the ban be considered a primary offense, meaning it would not have to be linked to a speeding violation or other infraction. Secondary laws “are almost forgotten,” he said. And while he doesn’t expect that enforcing the smoking ban will become a high priority for police in Maine, he thinks the existence of the law, and the debate surrounding it, would help raise awareness and serve as “a statement of public expectation.”
In Bangor, not even one citation or warning has been issued to adults found smoking with children in their vehicles since the ban took effect in January.
Deputy Police Chief Peter Arno said that does not mean the city ordinance is not working.
“Anecdotally,” Arno said, “when I’m out driving around the city, I’m just not seeing [the behavior]. And I used to see it a lot.” He takes that as a sign that “the word’s gotten out” and that people are more protective of children.
Arno said he expects police in Maine would not be opposed to the statewide measure, even though enforcing it probably would not be a priority.
Dr. Jonathan Shenkin, a Bangor pediatric dentist and children’s public health advocate who spearheaded the Bangor ban last winter, said the time is right to go statewide. With evidence mounting that exposure to secondhand smoke is “an extreme danger” to children, he said, “this is not a local issue.”
Although Arkansas, Louisiana and Puerto Rico enacted similar smoking bans before Bangor did, Shenkin said, Bangor’s ban is the first in the nation to protect children up to age 18.
In California, Shenkin noted, lawmakers have approved a ban scheduled for enactment by mid-October. That measure initially protected kids age 12 and under, but lawmakers raised the cutoff age to 18 after Bangor’s ban was publicized, he said.
“Bangor’s ordinance is now becoming the national model,” he said.
Like Miller and Arno, Shenkin said the greatest value in passing the law in Maine would be increased public awareness, and not just among adults.
“Kids will learn about it in school,” he said, “and will speak up if someone lights up in the car.”
The proposal has friends in high places, including the Maine chapter of the American Cancer Society, the Maine Coalition on Smoking or Health, the Maine Medical Association, the Maine chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Maine Children’s Alliance. Shenkin said endorsements will only increase when the proposal, which is under preliminary review in the Legislature, is completed and published.
Opposition to the proposal is likely to come from the tobacco industry and from groups and individuals philosophically opposed to government intrusion in the lives of private citizens. Efforts on Thursday to contact a Portland attorney who lobbies on behalf of the tobacco industry were not successful. Shenna Bellows, executive director of the Maine Civil Liberties U nion, also could not be reached for comment.
By Meg Haskell
October 05, 2007 – Bangor Daily News
BANGOR – The city’s ordinance against smoking in cars when a child is inside is headed for the State House.
City Councilor Patricia Blanchette, who is also a Democratic state representative, confirmed Thursday that she has submitted preliminary legislation to make Maine one of the first states to make it illegal to smoke in any vehicle when minors are present.
The statewide measure would mirror Bangor’s ordinance, making it a primary offense for anyone in a car to smoke when there is anyone under 18 in the car.
Violators could be fined $50. Bangor’s ordinance went into effect in January, supported by a 6-3 vote of the City Council, with Blanchette speaking forcefully in favor.
Several recent studies report that smoking in a car or other vehicle exposes everyone inside to dangerous levels of secondhand smoke, even when windows are open. Repeated exposure is linked to a number of chronic disorders in children, including ear infections, asthma and other ailments.
Blanchette, a half-pack-a-day smoker herself, said Thursday that many parents don’t realize the risks of smoking around their children.
“Adults can choose to smoke or not,” she said, “but that child doesn’t have any choice at all.”
Aside from the issue of children’s health, Blanchette said, the public cost of childhood exposure to secondhand smoke is “astronomical.” Emergency room visits, asthma medications and other costs add up quickly, she said, and are often covered by MaineCare, Maine’s Medicaid program.
“So we all pay for it,” she said.
Ed Miller, chief executive officer of the American Lung Association of Maine, said Thursday that national, state and local laws have done much to protect adults from the effects of secondhand smoke by banning smoking in public buildings, restaurants, bars, workplaces and other areas.
But Miller said these laws have not protected children, since their exposure typically takes place in homes and cars. The high levels of toxic gases that accumulate in a car when someone lights up constitute “involuntary smoking at its worst,” he said.
Miller thinks it’s important that a violation of the ban be considered a primary offense, meaning it would not have to be linked to a speeding violation or other infraction. Secondary laws “are almost forgotten,” he said. And while he doesn’t expect that enforcing the smoking ban will become a high priority for police in Maine, he thinks the existence of the law, and the debate surrounding it, would help raise awareness and serve as “a statement of public expectation.”
In Bangor, not even one citation or warning has been issued to adults found smoking with children in their vehicles since the ban took effect in January.
Deputy Police Chief Peter Arno said that does not mean the city ordinance is not working.
“Anecdotally,” Arno said, “when I’m out driving around the city, I’m just not seeing [the behavior]. And I used to see it a lot.” He takes that as a sign that “the word’s gotten out” and that people are more protective of children.
Arno said he expects police in Maine would not be opposed to the statewide measure, even though enforcing it probably would not be a priority.
Dr. Jonathan Shenkin, a Bangor pediatric dentist and children’s public health advocate who spearheaded the Bangor ban last winter, said the time is right to go statewide. With evidence mounting that exposure to secondhand smoke is “an extreme danger” to children, he said, “this is not a local issue.”
Although Arkansas, Louisiana and Puerto Rico enacted similar smoking bans before Bangor did, Shenkin said, Bangor’s ban is the first in the nation to protect children up to age 18.
In California, Shenkin noted, lawmakers have approved a ban scheduled for enactment by mid-October. That measure initially protected kids age 12 and under, but lawmakers raised the cutoff age to 18 after Bangor’s ban was publicized, he said.
“Bangor’s ordinance is now becoming the national model,” he said.
Like Miller and Arno, Shenkin said the greatest value in passing the law in Maine would be increased public awareness, and not just among adults.
“Kids will learn about it in school,” he said, “and will speak up if someone lights up in the car.”
The proposal has friends in high places, including the Maine chapter of the American Cancer Society, the Maine Coalition on Smoking or Health, the Maine Medical Association, the Maine chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Maine Children’s Alliance. Shenkin said endorsements will only increase when the proposal, which is under preliminary review in the Legislature, is completed and published.
Opposition to the proposal is likely to come from the tobacco industry and from groups and individuals philosophically opposed to government intrusion in the lives of private citizens. Efforts on Thursday to contact a Portland attorney who lobbies on behalf of the tobacco industry were not successful. Shenna Bellows, executive director of the Maine Civil Liberties U nion, also could not be reached for comment.
