Smoking in vehicles with children.?

Question

Recently Halifax, Nova Scotia(Canada) a by-law was just passed that makes smoking in your vehicle with children illegal.
Now although myself I smoke but would never smoke in a vehicle with a child, I believe this is a violation civil rights.

Before Anti-Smokers jump down my throat, I don't agree with smoking in a house of vehicle with young children in it but I do believe that should be the choice of the parent.

I would be interested to hear other opinions on it and if you think its a human rights violation.

Answer 1

Nor should we allow our children to eat junk food...or over eat..or drink sugared beverages, .or play football(dangerous) or ride bikes without a full suit of armor, or play with animals, etc, etc, etc....
The problem I have with the whole thing is....
Why the hell are we allowing our gov't to make the rules of our everyday lives???? Communism is on it's way!

Answer 2

Why do so many people get so upset about violation civil rights ? The question should be why are people so stupid that we need the government to bring in these laws? You say you don;t smoke around children but it should be the parents right to decide. Now go back and read that again!! A parent should have the right to harm their child that is what you are saying. We heard the same outcry when they made wearing helmets a law --Oh it is our right not to wear them--
I know Americans fought for freedom and you do not want to lose it and I agree but the freedom to harm a child, the freedom to have your brains wiped all over the road. The choice not to wear a seat belt.
No one is taking away your rights they are protecting you and the children. ---I am from Halifax and this is the start of some great laws that will continue across both our free Countries

Answer 3

The Second-Hand Smoke studies that showed how bad it is, were all studies of extended exposure: non-smokers who were married to smokers who smoked in the house 20+ years; co-workers in smoke-filled offices 40 hours a week for 20+ years.

There has never been a study showing that breathing in 2nd-hand smoke for small amounts of time now-and-then is harmful at all.

I wish people would take this into account, but I seem to be the only person who realizes all this.

Answer 4

Smoking while a child is in a closed space causes the child to inhale as much smoke as the smoker. This is a pretty clear case of child abuse. We don't let a one year old child smoke and for good reason. We should not allow their parents to force them to smoke by smoking in their presence.

If we make that a choice of the parent then parents should have the right to beat their children as well. It's the same thing.

Answer 5

I agree. It's none of their business what I do in MY CAR what so ever. If my children is in the car I roll the window down but then I roll the window down even when I'm the only one in the car. I live in a city that has many factories that put out 300 times more smoke and carcinogens than a cigarette could ever put out but yet they say nothing about them.

Answer 6

I believe this is in the best interested of the children and their health. I don't see a law out there saying that it's up to the parent to or okay to harm their child(ren).

If anything, I think it's protecting the human rights of the children and allowing them a fresh healthy start to life.

Answer 7

A human rights violation? I don't think smoking, of any kind, falls under human rights. And I especially don't think subjecting kids to poisonous air falls under that. You have no more "right" to foul your kids air than you would to feed them tainted food or fouled water.

Vehicle operating guidelines are entirely under the auspices of state regulation and as such, it is eminently legal for the state to pass such laws.

Answer 8

People can't legally buy or smoke tobacco until they are 18 in the U.S. In my opinion, children under the age of 18 should not be subjected to someone else's smoke, as they are not of legal age.

Answer 9

They just passed a similar law in California.

Big Brother is alive and well.

Answer 10

No, I don't think so. How far are you willing to go; in the home, in the front yard, with in 50ft of other people? Look there is a reason smoking is "looked down upon", and there is a reason it has not been completely banned. The average state tax on 1 pack of cigarettes is $1.04; that's per pack! If it is so unhealthy, and harmful to those around you why don't the states ban it altogether? Because they can't stand to lose the tax base. And what of the huge settlements to the states from the tobacco companies; they were supposed to be used to offset the cost of providing health care for smokers. Yet, in Colorado those funds were used in the T-Rex project in Denver! And later the state opted for a cash buy-out of the settlement for another road construction project. The fact of the matter is that you should be thanking every smoker you see for paying for the roads that we drive on! I don't do this because I'm pro-smoking, it's because I'm anti-big brother. If smoking really is as bad as the government says it is, why do they allow the sale and use of such items; because they are making bank off of it, and that is the ultimate hipocracy. When the government can regulate what we do with our persons, and our property, then there is no freedom, and we live in anarchy. They may go after smokers now, but when that is gone; who will they sick their regulators on next? Go ahead, support the restriction of rights, choice, and freedom on smokers; but don't start complaining when the government tries to take over some aspect of your life, like wearing sandals. I mean clearly sandals do not offer the same back support as boots, and the cost of providing health care to people who have worn sandals, atleast once in their life time, is astronomical. First they will tell you "you shouldn't", then comes the "you can't". And when that day comes, the smokers will be able to tell you "I told you so".