Countries initiate a fresh campaign to outlaw smoking in motor vehicles
In a bid to protect the health and wellbeing of children and unborn babies, several German states have submitted an amendment to the federal non-smoker protection act. The proposal, led by North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, aims to achieve a smoking ban in cars when minors or pregnant women are present.
For years, initiatives by various federal states have been underway to expand the non-smoker protection law. The state has a special protective duty towards those who cannot protect themselves from the harmful effects of passive smoking, a fact that has been highlighted in the bill.
Passive smoking, long understood to be a health hazard, can lead to growth disorders and increases the risk of cancer for minors. The tobacco smoke pollution in closed passenger compartments, such as cars, can reach a multiple of a heavily smoked pub within a few minutes when smoking a single cigarette, according to the draft. This increased exposure to second-hand smoke puts minors and unborn children at a higher risk, a risk that the bill seeks to mitigate.
Unfortunately, expectations that smoking in cars in the presence of others would be voluntarily avoided have not been fulfilled, as stated in the bill. This has prompted the renewed push to reintroduce a smoking ban in motor vehicles when children or pregnant women are present.
The North Rhine-Westphalia health ministry, under the leadership of Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU), is at the forefront of this initiative. In the summer of 2023, a draft from the ministry of the then health minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) was proposed, but the law change did not come about due to the end of the coalition on the federal level in the last legislative period.
The bill will be reintroduced into the state chamber on September 26. If the Bundesrat agrees to the bill, the Bundestag will be next in line for consideration. The German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg estimates that currently around one million minors in Germany are exposed to tobacco smoke in cars, making this a significant public health issue.
Health Minister Laumann has stated that it is irresponsible for people to smoke in the presence of children or pregnant women in cars. The proposal to reintroduce a smoking ban in motor vehicles when children or pregnant women are present before the Bundestag was brought forward by several federal states, including North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony.
As the bill progresses through the legislative process, it is hoped that a smoking ban in cars with minors or pregnant women present will become law, protecting the health and wellbeing of some of our most vulnerable citizens.
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