News Release

Health groups join forces to ban smoking in cars carrying kids

Media | Media Advisories | News Releases | Statements | Backgrounders | Graphics | Letters to Editor |

The following news release has been issued on behalf of the Newfoundland and Labrador Lung Association,  the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association, the Association of Registered Nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canadian Cancer Society – Newfoundland & Labrador Division and the Alliance for the Control of Tobacco.

May 26, 2009

St. John’s, NL - With World "No Tobacco Day" just around the corner on May 31st, provincial health groups have joined forces to call for provincial legislation to ban smoking in cars carrying children.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association (NLMA), the Association of Registered Nurses of Newfoundland and Labrador (ARNNL), Canadian Cancer Society – Newfoundland & Labrador Division (CCS) and the Alliance for the Control of Tobacco (ACT) have united with the Newfoundland and Labrador Lung Association (NLLA) to drive home the important message of banning smoking in cars carrying children.

Last January, the Lung Association launched a ‘Stop Smoking in Cars - Our Kids Deserve It’ campaign. The Association wants the provincial government to ensure people “butt out” when they are driving with children.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians were asked to visit www.cleanairforkids.ca and send a message directly to their MHA, the minister of health and the premier. Hundreds of letters were sent from the public, and both Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary have lent their support for the issue.

More than a year later, community support continues to grow.

“It is simply not acceptable that some children in Canada are forced to ride in cars when people are smoking. It’s a serious public health issue that needs to be addressed,” said Paul Thomey, executive director of the provincial Lung Association.

NLMA President Dr. Elizabeth Callahan, a family physician in St. John’s, agrees that exposing children to tobacco smoke is a serious health risk. “The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has already adopted significant legislative measures to protect the health and safety of children, including measures to protect children from environmental tobacco smoke,” said Dr. Callahan. “Given what we know about the negative impacts of tobacco smoke on children, and the support a ban on smoking in cars with children has not just within the province but across the country, we urge government to move on this important legislative initiative.”

“Protecting all children from the hazards of second-hand smoke is a high priority for the Newfoundland and Labrador Alliance for the Control of Tobacco (ACT)” says ACT Chair Gary Milley, “For this reason, ACT fully supports the call for a ban on smoking in cars with children present”, said Gary Milley, Board Chair for the Alliance for the Control of Tobacco.

“At the ARNNL, we believe the Primary Health Care approach, one based on prevention and focused on living a healthy lifestyle, is essential to the future health and well being of the people of the province,” said Pegi Earle, Executive Director of the Association of Registered Nurses of NL. “Ensuring the ban on tobacco smoke in is adopted in this province is a step in the right direction to ensuring the children of our province have a healthy start in life. It is our hope to see the ban adopted in Newfoundland as it has been in other provinces.”

“Recently, we have seen good progress on tobacco control in Newfoundland and Labrador” says Peter Dawe, Executive Director of the Canadian Cancer Society – Newfoundland and Labrador Division, “CCS-NL would like to see this province join those in the rest of Canada who have implemented this type of ban”

British Columbia, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Yukon and Prince Edward Island have already passed legislation that bans smoking in vehicles with children and legislation is pending in provincial legislatures in Manitoba. Health groups in this province want government to commit to adopting a similar ban and are asking that legislation be introduced in the Fall 2009 session of the House of Assembly.

Media Contacts

Background

According to Statistics Canada, in 2003, the proportion of 12 year-olds regularly exposed to second-hand smoke in private vehicles was 17%^[1]. Additionally, according to the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey from Statistics Canada, 19% of non-smokers 12- 17 years old were regularly exposed to second-hand smoke in private vehicles^[2].

Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 dangerous chemicals and carcinogens. Second-hand smoke in vehicles is especially potent when it is concentrated in a confined space.

Research shows that children exposed to second-hand smoke are at a higher risk for many health problems. Children and babies who are exposed to second hand smoke on a regular basis are at higher risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), asthma, and ear infections. They are also more likely to develop cancer and heart disease as adults. Second-hand smoke can make symptoms worse for kids who have asthma or a respiratory infection. Additionally, there is growing evidence that kids who are exposed to second-hand smoke before and after birth have more behaviour problems, shorter attention spans, and lower marks at school than their peers who aren’t exposed to smoke.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Lung Association is a not-for-profit health charity that offers programs and services in the areas of lung health, smoking cessation and air quality. We have been serving the people of our province since 1944. For more information on our policy regarding smoking in cars with children present, or any other Lung Association health initiatives, please visit our website.

^[1] Health Reports, Volume 16, No. 1, Pages 9-18, October 2004, Statistics Canada, 82-003,

^[2] 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey.