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Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Smoke ’em with kids in the car?
The latest trend this legislative season seems to be bans on smoking while kids are in the car. What do you think: Invasion of privacy or necessary to protect children?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I keep seeing headlines about states proposing bills to make it illegal for parents to smoke while there are kids in the car. I finally found a round-up story that summarizes what the different states are proposing. According to the summary, Louisiana, Arkansas and Puerto Rico have all passed varying laws on this. Similar bans are being considered by NINE states this legislative season. Here’s the full story.
Rhode Island state Sen. Susan Sosnowski, who introduced a bill to make it illegal to smoke while a 6-year-old child or younger is in the car, said, “I think it’s important to protect those who can’t speak for themselves. They’re strapped in there and there’s nothing they can do to get away from it.”
The story reports that: “Gary Nolan, Ohio state coordinator and spokesman for The Smoker’s Club Inc., a national smokers’ rights organization, opposes the idea. ‘It is an invasion of privacy. It is usurping the rights of parents and usurping private property rights,’ Nolan said.”
What do you think? Should smoking be banned in cars carrying kids? Could Georgia pass something like this?
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