The first bill up for discussion this legislative session is one dealing with smoking in cars with children 15 years old and younger. Representative Patrice Arent is the sponsor of the bill, and its official title is Protection of Children Riding in Motor Vehicles. The text can be found HERE.
There has been some controversy over this bill, mainly dealing with property rights. What we need to realize is that the rights of the child strapped into the backseat are being taken away, and it is for them that we need to make our voices heard.
Calls to action will be coming soon. While we wait, take a look at some information pertaining to the issue:
The Bill:
- Last year, this bill passed in the House, 40 yeas / 31 nays.
- Though passing in the Senate committee, it died the last night of the session without a vote. (cowards...)
- Last year, the age was 8 years and younger, but has been increased to a more comprehensive age of 15 and younger.
The Issue:
- There is NO SAFE LEVEL of tobacco smoke exposure
- The level of toxic air in a vehicle when smoking is up to 10 TIMES GREATER than what the US Environmental Protection Agency considers hazardous.
- In 1997, the National Cancer Institute concluded that secondhand smoke (SHS) is the cause of:
- 2,000 cases of SIDS a year
- 8,000 new cases of asthma in children a year
- 1 MIL cases of exacerbated asthma in children a year
- As quoted from the Surgeon General, 2007:
- "Because their bodies are developing, infants and young children are especially vulnerable to the poisons in secondhand smoke."
- "...Babies who are exposed to secondhand smoke after birth are more likely to die from sudden death syndrome (SIDS) than babies who are not exposed to cigarette smoke."
- "Secondhand smoke exposure causes acute lower respiratory infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia in infants and young children."
- "Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at increased risk for ear infections and are more likely to need an operation to insert ear tubes for drainage."
For more information on secondhand smoke, visit tobaccofreekids.org, ctfu.org, heart.org, cancer.org
Eleven of the chemical compounds and over 4,500 carcinogens are commonly known carcinogens in cigarettes and snuff, respectively. Among adolescents, in general, is five is a smoker. Diseases caused by snuff are usually the chronic heart, lung, mouth, larynx, esophagus, bladder, pancreas, cervix and cancer. Pregnant women who smoke can cause death and babies who survive suffer from problems related to smoking. 10% of the world's population dies every day from passive smoking. United States is the largest manufacturer of cigarettes.
ReplyDeleteWalking outside along the wasatch front is just as detrimental, actually more so than a 5 minute cigerette. Schools have children go to recess for prolonged amount of time 3 times a day, children walk home from school. People still drive their multiple kids here and there several times a day and drive to church serveral times a week that contributes to the "bad" air, do we want to ban cars off the road too? Energy Solutions accepts loads they didn't verify was legal, do we want to ban the company out of Utah? Is this smoking ban really to protect the children or is it a vice to push your beliefs onto others? If it is truly to protect the children you may want to push for something that actually causes more harm to the children like the smog and dumping grounds that is a continuous problem vs. something that lasts 5 minutes at a time.
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