“Starting Jan. 1, 2008, Californians caught smoking in a car with someone under the age of 18 will face a $100 fine. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a cigar smoker himself, signed the legislation into law Wednesday. Lawmakers said the law was inspired by the well-publicized dangers of secondhand smoke.
“State statistics show secondhand smoke causes thousands of asthma attacks in children.
A Harvard study found that secondhand smoke can be 10 times worse in cars than homes.
Republican critics have criticized the legislation as a “nanny bill.” They say they don’t believe the state should be “parenting” adult citizens. “I have a right to have, for example, to own a gun but you don’t have a right to shoot people. And in this case you may have a right to smoke cigarettes but I don’t believe you have the right to poison children,” said Dr. Jeffrey Oppenheim of the Advisory Board of Health of Rockland County, New York.
A Harvard study found that secondhand smoke can be 10 times worse in cars than homes.
Republican critics have criticized the legislation as a “nanny bill.” They say they don’t believe the state should be “parenting” adult citizens. “I have a right to have, for example, to own a gun but you don’t have a right to shoot people. And in this case you may have a right to smoke cigarettes but I don’t believe you have the right to poison children,” said Dr. Jeffrey Oppenheim of the Advisory Board of Health of Rockland County, New York.
TheStateOf . . . Smoking In Cars With Kids. My grandmother and aunts smoked hella cigarettes with me in the car when I was a kid. Was it good for me? Prolly not. Should the gov’t step in? I say no. What say you? Remember when people used to smoke on airplanes?!
