Pressure grows for car smoking ban
Wednesday November 16th, 2011
There was growing pressure for UK governments to ban smoking in cars today - as experts warned that non-smokers face massive risks from the habit.
The
government of Northern Ireland agreed to consider the proposal - while
at Westminster an all-party group of MPs backed the idea.
The British Medical Association released its own analysis of research - suggesting that non-smokers in car would absorb 23 times more toxins than in a smoky bar. This is three times greater than previous estimates.
Children and the vulnerable elderly are especially placed at risk, it said.
The findings are in a briefing from the BMA's board of science.
In London, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health calls for the government to launch a public consultation on how harm from smoking in vehicles might be reduced.
It said this should include considering a ban on smoking in all cars. MP Alex Cunningham is currently trying to get a ban smoking in cars with children in them - and his proposals are to be debated in Parliament at the end of the month.
Chair Stephen Williams MP said: "While welcoming the Department of Health's commitment to launch a marketing campaign to encourage people to make their homes and cars smoke-free, having listened to the experts, I believe that this will not be sufficient.
"The killer fact for me was that just one cigarette smoked in a car during a typical thirty minute journey with the windows closed leads to levels of second-hand smoke about seven times that of the smoky bars that existed in this country before 2007.
"This is clearly intolerable and it's time to turn the debate to how best to protect children from second-hand smoke."
Dr Vivienne Nathanson, of the BMA, said: "We are calling on UK governments to take the bold and courageous step of banning smoking in private vehicles. The evidence for extending the smoke-free legislation is compelling."
Maura Gillespie, of the British Heart Foundation, welcomed the findings.
She said: "There is already clear evidence that passive smoking increases the risk of a number of serious health problems. Children especially need to be protected from the damaging effects of other people smoking in cars."
Tags: General Health | Respiratory | UK News
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