Hot Topic (2/17): Do you think it's ok to smoke with kids in the car?
Some states are passing laws making it illegal to smoke in cars with kids present.
Is it enough to just open a window?
Is the government intruding into our personal lives?
Here's some info on a law passed in California last year:
LONG BEACH (KABC) (KABC) -- A California law prohibits adults from smoking in the car when children are present. Eyewitness News health specialist Denise Dador explains the science behind the new law, and how quickly chemicals from smoke can accumulate in your car.
The next time you have the urge to light up in your car, make sure you don't have a minor riding with you. In California, it's now illegal.
"If you are observed smoking and are cited, it's a $100 fine," said state Senator Jenny Oropeza.
State Senator Oropeza authored the "Smoke-free Cars with Minors" law.
"I think that's a great law, because it protects our kids who are basically held hostage in a vehicle," said Oropeza. "They don't have a choice to get out of that car."
To prove this point, health experts used a volunteer smoker and sophisticated sensors to measure just how toxic the air can get when you're in a car with a smoker.
"It went way above the EPA hazardous limit," said Stanford environmental scientist Dr. Neil Kelpeis. "Over 6,000 micrograms per unit cube, which is about 30 times the hazardous level set by the EPA."
Even when you cracked the windows open, the levels are still considered hazardous.
"They were 10 to 20 times that EPA limit, so a child in the backseat would still be exposed to this very high level of particulate matter," said Dr. Kelpeis.
Pediatricians say kids are more susceptible to the harmful effects of secondhand smoke because their bodies are still developing. Some of the problems include asthma, bronchitis and even ear infections.
"Pound for pound, they breathe more air in a minute-by-minute basis. So that in any given environment, children are actually sucking in more air pollution than adults in the very same environment," said Dr. Mark Horton from the California Department of Public Health.
Studies show secondhand smoke contains 50 cancer causing chemicals, and long-term exposure is linked to heart disease and lung cancer in adults.
"Secondhand smoke kills. Don't smoke in a car with a kid," said Oropeza. "Today it's against the law."
I think it is repulsive to smoke with a child in the car and shows pure selfishness and no regard for the long term health of your child.
I think smoking is stupid and doing it in front of or with your kids is just plain wrong. I think it's a great law.
as much as i dont like government intrusion in our private lives, the realisation of the harmful effects of second hand smoke, have prompted laws against smoking all sorts of places.. which i am thankful for as a non smoker.. i used to work in a closed building and the air quality was horrendous.. ppl smoked in one room, but the smoke really stayed in the building..
about the smoking in cars.. well, in theory i agree, but what about at home, the same kids with the smoking adults are going to be probably exposed to second hand smoke a LOT at home. ... it's a shame.. now they are not going to stop ppl from smoking in their own homes, right ??
Growing up my dad smoked all the time in the car with us. He always had the window cracked while doing so. He also smoked in the house with us. I never thought of it as child abuse or as dangerous. Of course, 20-25 years ago, the effects from second hand smoke were not a big issue as we didn't know as much about them.
Now with as much info as we have about second hand smoke, I think it's warranted to prohibit it. Of course, the law is hard to enforce and won't catch a many people, however there will be some who are scared of being caught and won't do it.
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Smoking is wrong no matter what. It's linked to cancer, asthma, ephezema, etc. and anyone who smokes around their child should be prosecuted for abuse and have said child taken away.
I think smoking is very bad for you. You have a say how you want to live your life. Your kids don't. They are just learning what is bad for them. Smoking around them can make them sick. No one wants their child sick. So I am really against smoking around kids anytime. Especially in really tiny places such as a car. My fiance smokes but he will not smoke around the kids, not in the house or in the car. So smoking should be illegal in the car with kids.
To each his own that is their business. But as a childcaregiver I had one family and the parent would drop off their child and the child and the carseat would smell horrible like cigarette smoke. I would have to leave the carseat sitting outside on my front porch bench to let it air out all day. I couldn't leave the child airing out all day!LOL I don't think it matters if you open the window a little or alot the wind still blows it in. I don't now about passing a law about it. It should be the parents decision. Usually kids say something to their parents if they are old enough. It is the parent who needs to make the good judgement when the infant can't speak for themselves.
Christina 
i do agree with the other replies and yours except for one thing:they should be prosecuted for child abuse and taken away?!! are you serious??!! i am very strong minded about smoking and kids too but i would not go that far. there are kids that are actually being abused and neglected and those kids should be taken away and their parents getting help to get their minds right. my thing is that smoking is bad and unhealthy for adults and so it is 4x that for kids any age. their bodies and immune system is still growing and developing; they cant tell the adult no even though the smoke bothers them; it crazy. i began smoking again and everytime i smoked, i smoke outside my home and never in my car or whoesever car me and my kids may be in. i think that the law could be good but who is to say it will work? there are alot of selfish parent s out there and if they dont care enough about thier childs health to smoke in their homes than who is to say they will stop smoking in their cars? opening the windows is not good enough, smoking in a seperate room is not good enough, leaving windows open and ceiling fans on is not good enough; smoke circulates not matter what you " try " to do; it is awful. and if it does work then i wouldnt mind the law to take effect in other states. just my opinion.
Quoting IhartU:
Smoking is wrong no matter what. It's linked to cancer, asthma, ephezema, etc. and anyone who smokes around their child should be prosecuted for abuse and have said child taken away.
Hola!! I am a lovable, single, born again Christian, natural childbirth, vaccinating, pro choice, agrees with CIO, non spanking, cloth diapering, circumsizing, SAHM to three wonderful, spoiled kids.
Good question. Anyone have a guess?
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on Feb. 17, 2009 at 4:09 AM