The Australian Assistant Minister for Health and Ageing, Christopher Pyne, has welcomed news that the Tasmanian State Government has heeded his call to ban smoking in cars while children are present.
?Every week, on average, someone under the age of 15 dies from a tobacco-related cause,? Mr Pyne said.
?Being confined within a car while an adult is smoking means that children and babies are unable to escape from the poisons and harmful particles contained in cigarette smoke through passive smoking.
?I raised the idea for a ban at the last Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy, and it received a poor reception, particularly from New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland,? he said.
?For Tasmania to be the first to take it up is great news. I would urge the other states that are lagging behind to get on with it.
?Smoking in a car is extremely harmful and it is crucial to limit the exposure of children to this danger.
?Children exposed to passive smoking are more likely to experience such serious illnesses as pneumonia, middle ear infections and asthma attacks,? he said.