Giving Children a Voice: Banning Smoking in Vehicles Carrying Minors

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Recommended: Literature review on the harmful effects of secondhand smoke

Secondhand smoke, also called environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), is a combination of the smoke from a burning cigarette and the smoke exhaled by a smoker (American Academy of Otolaryngology, 2010). ETS leads to severe illnesses in adults and children; moreover, it invades the personal rights of children. Side effects are worsened when smoking occurs in a confined space, for example in a vehicle. To protect the rights and health of children, smoking in vehicles carrying minors should be banned in Texas.

People believe banning smoking in vehicles carrying minors is an infringement of personal rights, but it is a protection of the rights of children. Often children do not have a voice against adults smoking in the car. Children, being viewed as disrespectful, may be punished if they spoke up against adults. Smokers continue to oppose smoking bans, but current laws protect the public’s rights. Recently, smoking has been banned at Houston public housing in hopes of reducing the effects of direct and secondhand smoke (George, 2014). “Those who oppose the regulation of smoking altogether may argue that such laws: (1) discriminate against smokers as a group, in violation of the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause and (2) violate their fundamental right to privacy under the Due Process Clause”( Weisman, 2010). Consistently, courts have upheld that smoking is not a constitutional right. Government regulations of vehicle, which is generally considered private, is nothing unusual or novel. Seatbelt, child restraints, consuming alcohol, and open bottles of alcohol are examples of laws that regulate the private vehicle for the public’s safety. Banning in smoking in vehicles would be one of these regulations.

A report from the Surge...

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...20). no-smoke.org. Retrieved February 21, 2014, from http://www.no-smoke.org/learnmore.php?id=616
Thirdhand Smoke. (2014, February 20). no-smoke.org. Retrieved February 21, 2014, from http://www.no-smoke.org/learnmore.php?id=671
United States., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.), & National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (U.S.). (2010). How tobacco smoke causes disease: The biology and behavioral basis for smoking-attributable disease : a report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General.
Weisman, S. (2010). Kids, Cars and Cigarettes: Policy Options for Smoke-Free Vehicles. Public Health Law, 1. Retrieved February 21, 2014, from http://www.publichealthlawcenter.org/sites/default/files/resources/phlc-policybrief-kidscarssmoke-2010_0.pdf

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