Georgia State Representative Sandra Scott, a Democrat and educator from Rex, has once again introduced legislation that would prohibit smoking in vehicles when a minor under the age of 14 is present. The proposed law, House Bill 17, would apply to vehicles both in motion and parked, making it a misdemeanor offense punishable by a $100 fine for violators.

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Austria has joined the growing list of European countries taking steps to protect children and young people from the dangers of secondhand smoke in vehicles. As of 2018, a new law has come into force that prohibits smoking in cars when passengers under the age of 18 are present.

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Ohio lawmakers have introduced a bill that would make it illegal to smoke in a vehicle with a child present, but the proposed age limit for the child passenger would establish it as the weakest such law in the country. Senate Bill 106, sponsored by State Senator Charleta Tavares (D-Columbus), would impose a $500 fine for smoking in a car with a child younger than 6 years old.

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Starting next month, Thailand will enforce a smoking ban on 20 of its most popular tourist beaches, including hotspots like Phuket, Koh Samui, and Pattaya. Violators risk up to a year in prison or a fine of 100,000 baht ($3,000; £2,280). The move follows alarming findings by the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR), which reported that cigarette butts accounted for a third of all beach litter.

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The Finnish government has put forward a supplementary proposal to its Tobacco Act, which was initially submitted to Parliament in February. The new proposal seeks to ban smoking in cars when children under the age of 15 are present. The primary objective of this smoking ban is to minimize children’s exposure to tobacco smoke and the associated harmful health effects.

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The Vancouver Sun published an investigation that reveals over the past seven years in Canada, Chantix has been linked to 44 deaths (30 of them by suicide) and over 1,300 incidents of suicide attempts or thoughts, depression, and aggression. Read more