Pennsylvania State Senator Gene Yaw, R-Lycoming County, has introduced a bill that would impose fines on drivers who smoke in a vehicle with a child under the age of 13. The measure, Senate Bill 667, passed the Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday by a vote of 11-3.

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As of June 1, 2020, smoking in vehicles with passengers under the age of 18 is illegal in the state of Illinois. The law, which was passed in 2019, took effect at the beginning of this month, marking a significant step towards protecting children from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke.

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The Massachusetts Senate has passed a bill that would ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, and impose a 75% excise tax on e-cigarettes. The legislation, which was approved by the state House earlier this month, is designed to combat the growing problem of underage vaping in the state.

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Fines Up to €1,000 Aim to Protect Minors from Passive Smoking

As of August 2019, smoking in a car with a child under the age of 16 has been illegal throughout Belgium, following the implementation of the ban in the Brussels region. Flanders and Wallonia had already adopted similar legislation earlier in the year.

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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