Governments initiate a fresh campaign to prohibit cigarette use in automobiles
In a bid to protect the health of minors and unborn children, a proposal to ban smoking in cars when children or pregnant women are present has been reintroduced in the state chamber of North Rhine-Westphalia on September 26. This initiative is part of a long-standing effort to expand the non-smoking protection law in Germany.
The proposal, if approved by the Bundesrat, will be presented to the Bundestag next. This move follows a previous attempt by the office of the then health minister, Karl Lauterbach (SPD), in the summer of 2023, during the last legislative period. However, the change of government at the federal level prevented the bill from coming into effect.
The bill aims to address the concerns that expectations for voluntary avoidance of smoking in cars have not been met. According to the bill, minors and unborn children are more exposed to secondhand smoke in closed spaces, increasing the risk of cancer, damages to the lungs, and growth disorders.
The German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg estimates that currently around one million minors in Germany are exposed to tobacco smoke in cars. This exposure poses a significant health risk, as secondhand smoke in cars can reach several times that of a heavily smoked pub within a few minutes of smoking a single cigarette.
The state has a special protective duty towards those who cannot protect themselves from secondhand smoke. The health minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU), stated that smoking in the presence of children or pregnant women in cars is irresponsible.
Previous initiatives by the federal states to expand the non-smoking protection law have been made, but the specific information about who prevented the bill on the smoking ban in cars with children or pregnant women during the last federal legislative period remains unclear.
The proposed amendment, if passed, would add to the existing non-smoking protection law, most recently updated in March 2022 by the Bundesrat. This move is expected to contribute significantly to the health and wellbeing of minors and unborn children in Germany.
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