[Stardust]

FRANKFORT - A bill filed by House Speaker Greg Stumbo would make it illegal to smoke in a car containing children.

The Prestonsburg Democrat told the Lexington Herald-Leader that the idea for the bill came from a conversation with his wife, Mary Karen.

"We were in a parking lot recently and noticed that the parents of young children got into their vehicle while continuing to smoke," Stumbo said. "It was a cold day, and they had no intention of lowering the windows. She and I couldn't believe it."

He said they both felt there should be a law to protect the youngsters.

Opponents said the bill isn't needed.

"If you allow the state to dictate smoking inside of your own private vehicle no matter who the occupants are, you've just opened the door to government intrusion in every single aspect of your life," said state Rep. David Floyd, R-Bardstown.

Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, said he expected that argument but thinks protecting children outweighs it.

"Well, children have personal rights, too. And one of those rights needs to be the assurance that they not be intentionally put in harm's way."

Four other states have passed similar legislation, according to Amy Barkley of Louisville, a regional director for the Washington D.C. advocacy group Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

Stumbo's proposal would not allow a person to smoke "cigars, cigarettes or other tobacco in any form" in a vehicle carrying a child. It proposes a fine of $25 for the first offense and $50 for each subsequent offense.

http://nky.cincinnati.com/

[UKisN1]

Government is out of control.

[Hoot Gibson]

Just what we need. A politician once found passed out drunk behind the wheel of a car on the shoulder of a public highway who escaped a DUI charge because of his political clout dictating how Kentuckians must raise their children.

I would rather see Stumbo sponsor a bill outlawing dishonest politicians and then retire to set an example for others like him to follow.

[Stardust]

Just what we need. A politician once found passed out drunk behind the wheel of a car on the shoulder of a public highway who escaped a DUI charge because of his political clout dictating how Kentuckians must raise their children.

I would rather see Stumbo sponsor a bill outlawing dishonest politicians and then retire to set an example for others like him to follow.

That would be against his moral beliefs!

[Wildcatk23]

I like the bill. They cause cancer. Why should children have to deal with their parents problems.

[HossDawg]

I remember when I was a little kid in the back seat and my dad would be up front puffing away. And it would aggravate me to death. And it got so bad that I got use to it, which is not a good thing!!!

So I'm all for the bill.

[RunItUpTheGut]

I dont like how government controls so much but i do like this bill.
With all of us being from KY, which is the place where more people smoke than any other state i believe or close to it, according to stats, its a good thing.
I dont smoke and im not sure why people want to. Im not one to judge anybody but most people start at a very young age, which is not their fault, its pushed in front of them all the time. People should have the right to smoke whenever or wherever they want AS LONG AS it does not affect someone who does not want to be affected by it. Children have no choice, which is what makes this bill reasonable IMO.
However the texting bill is a bunch of bull, because how can they prove something like that, id say thats a money racket waiting to happen.

[SKINNYPIG]

Not smoking in a car (windows up) while a child is present is a good idea. Should it be a law? No.

Maybe some of you would like to have a government representative monitoring every move everyone makes in their homes and cars. I know that sounds far fetched, but bills like this one are a precursor to just that. Government needs to back off!

[UKisN1]

Why don't they sponsor a bill that says all smokers must buy a convertible or that all smokers are not allowed to have kids. It will never stop. We can't sponsor a bill for lack of intelligence or common sense.

[Stardust]

What about if the child is smoking to? - uh, that IS against the law isn't it - but who here has seen that? Why don't they focus on keeping cigarettes out of Minor's hands first!

[Aslan]

This is flat out stupid.

[nky]

How do you enforce this? Why not add smoking in the home? If a kid comes to school maybe the teachers can report the parents to child welfare?
Another unenforceable law.

[Ballers]

This is silly. Can't do it, and won't be passed.

[HossDawg]

What about if the child is smoking to? - uh, that IS against the law isn't it - but who here has seen that? Why don't they focus on keeping cigarettes out of Minor's hands first!

Yes sir!

This law is gonna be very hard to enforce! But I like the concept of it.

[Wildcatk23]

Should a child be killed before its ever born? Abortion? IMO no!

Should a child be given cancer when he/she has no way op stop it? No!

[vundy33]

This is stupid, and it won't go anywhere. MOST parents usually crack the window, no matter if it's summer or winter, raining or clear.

There shouldn't be a **** law for the parents that don't crack their window. I swear I'm losing more faith in this country with every day that passes. This is pathetic.

[nky]

Should a child be killed before its ever born? Abortion? IMO no!

Should a child be given cancer when he/she has no way op stop it? No!

Should a child be feed a "happy Meal" that leads to obesity? Childhood obesity is a bigger threat to the children of Kentucky then maybe the possible effects of second hand smoke. Should we ban all fast food restaurants?

[Old School]

Where does it stop? Today it's smoking and as NKY said tomorrow it will be happy meals (except in Cailf. they are trying to stop those today). Then what? Kids are hurt on four wheelers every day. Will they try to outlaw them? The list goes on and on...

Adults or parents need to use the common sense God gave them.

[Hoot Gibson]

When you invite the government into your home, into your car, or anyplace else that you believe is your's, you are inviting trouble. When you invite the government into you neighbors' homes, cars, and places of business, it is only a matter of time that they will be knocking on your door to "help" you raise your own children, separate your recyclables from common garbage, checking your light bulbs, and telling you how to run your business in a green sort of way.

I have never taken a single puff of a cigarette or any other tobacco product. I can still remember a trip across Michigan as a young boy with four family members who smoked heavily in sub-zero temperatures. I believe that was the point when I made the decision that I would never smoke myself. Smoking is for dimwits but I do not want my family living in a police state where the government micromanages private behavior.

Anybody who thinks that a $25 or $50 fine is going to keep a heavy smoker from smoking in his own car is delusional. So, if a law passes mandating such fines, soon after bills will be introduced to increase the fine to some level that will discourage people from violating the law. All a small fine will do is cause smokers to hold their cigarettes below window level when they see a police car.

As fines increase, then the temptation for communities to install surveillance cameras to enforce laws on the cheap also grows. Do you want cameras installed at every intersection spying on you? Because that is ultimately what happens when well-intentioned people begin to buy into the need for a nanny state.

Cell phone use, smoking, seatbelt use, etc. - should people really be accused of crimes by an automated camera? Because people are already being ticketed for moving violations in some areas based on photo evidence. Given enough cameras with adequate resolution, there is no reason for the government not to make "investments" to make enforcement cheaper and more effective.

What's next? Would those of you who support this tobacco ban also support mandated GPS installation in every US car? Think of all of the lives that could be saved if everybody who ever sped could be automatically issued a speeding ticket. Is that the kind of society in which you people really want to live?

[TidesHoss32]

This is stupid, and it won't go anywhere. MOST parents usually crack the window, no matter if it's summer or winter, raining or clear.

There shouldn't be a **** law for the parents that don't crack their window. I swear I'm losing more faith in this country with every day that passes. This is pathetic.

Hey bro, I hope this you dont take this question the wrong way. If you knew me personally, youd know how to take it. Nobody supports the fighting soldier more than me. Just a month ago, I organized a care package drive that sent 74 packages to soldiers fighting, just so you dont think Im trying to pry something out of you. But Ive also had this conversation with dozens of very close friends who have fought, and I was wanting to get your honest answer. When you see government making bad decisions for the "good of the country", when you see politicians proposing stuff like this, among other things, how does stuff like this make YOU feel? My dad is a Vietnam Veteran, and Ive had cousins, uncles and grandfathers from BOTH sides of my family that all fought in foreign wars, and I know they get fed up with what a lot of these softies are trying to do to "their country". In my opinion, you vets have the biggest gripe. You fight, and they make the rules. I know vets (family members included) who wouldnt shed one tear if something very bad ever happened to Obama, just because he apologized to other countries for basically being an American. But again, when you see how your country is being ran, how all these government dicks are controlling everything in your life, how does it make you, the fighting man, feel?

[Wildcatk23]

Should a child be feed a "happy Meal" that leads to obesity? Childhood obesity is a bigger threat to the children of Kentucky then maybe the possible effects of second hand smoke. Should we ban all fast food restaurants?

The child ask's for a happy meal. The Parent gives the kid a meal because he or she wants it. When i hear a kid ask if he can have some second hand smoke then feel free to lock him in a room with everyday smokers.

[nky]

The child ask's for a happy meal. The Parent gives the kid a meal because he or she wants it. When i hear a kid ask if he can have some second hand smoke then feel free to lock him in a room with everyday smokers.

not necessarily. There are many who feed their children fast food everyday. As others have said when does it stop?

[Wildcatk23]

not necessarily. There are many who feed their children fast food everyday. As others have said when does it stop?

The kid doesn't know what the foods doing to him. His parents should have the decency to not smoke around him. I like the law, just dont know how u could go about enforcing it.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. National Toxicology Program, the U.S. Surgeon General, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have all classified secondhand smoke as a known human carcinogen (a cancer-causing agent) (1, 3, 6).

Inhaling secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in nonsmoking adults, Approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths occur each year among adult nonsmokers in the United States as a result of exposure to secondhand smoke (2). The U.S. Surgeon General estimates that living with a smoker increases a nonsmoker’s chances of developing lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent.

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/facts...obacco/ETS

[Stardust]

The kid doesn't know what the foods doing to him. His parents should have the decency to not smoke around him. I like the law, just dont know how u could go about enforcing it.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. National Toxicology Program, the U.S. Surgeon General, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have all classified secondhand smoke as a known human carcinogen (a cancer-causing agent) (1, 3, 6).

Inhaling secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in nonsmoking adults, Approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths occur each year among adult nonsmokers in the United States as a result of exposure to secondhand smoke (2). The U.S. Surgeon General estimates that living with a smoker increases a nonsmoker’s chances of developing lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent.

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/facts...obacco/ETS

I can understand the law and can agree to it's logic. But, how much more are we going to govern? Do we literally want government to regulate ever action that we do? Look, tobacco kills, but so does eating meat that has preservatives that cause cancer. Petroleum fumes can cause asthma, when do we no longer pump gas without a mask? I could go on and on. Where is the line drawn?

[nky]

It's a slippery slope.

[nky]

The kid doesn't know what the foods doing to him. His parents should have the decency to not smoke around him. I like the law, just dont know how u could go about enforcing it.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. National Toxicology Program, the U.S. Surgeon General, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have all classified secondhand smoke as a known human carcinogen (a cancer-causing agent) (1, 3, 6).

Inhaling secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in nonsmoking adults, Approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths occur each year among adult nonsmokers in the United States as a result of exposure to secondhand smoke (2). The U.S. Surgeon General estimates that living with a smoker increases a nonsmoker’s chances of developing lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent.

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/facts...obacco/ETS

easy solution.......raise the tobacco tax to the point of ending smoking

[nky]

Is the next step to ban smoking in homes where children live?

[Stardust]

easy solution.......raise the tobacco tax to the point of ending smoking

I agree, but I take it one step further! In the true spirit of government, let's ban Tobacco of all sorts. It's bad for you, so ban it. Then Alcohol, let's ban that too. Since drivers between the ages of 16-20 die in more accidents than any other age, can we please change the legal age of driving to 21. Since the age varies at so many levels for what is considered an adult, can we please have enactment of 21 as the age of being legally an adult, and require anything with an age requirement to be pushed to this age. Since cell phones cause so much injury, can we make it illegal to carry a turned on cell phone when performing anything that could cause injury to another person -such as the open container law, if the phone is on, it's considered "Open", and the law carries all the way into public places, such as you cannot walk down the street with an open container, you cannot walk down the street with a cell phone "on". Let us please create laws for all of life.

[Hoot Gibson]

Is the next step to ban smoking in homes where children live?

Smoking within apartments has already been banned in some California communities. It is just a matter of time before some kid gets mad at a parent, snitches to his teacher, and gets said parent jailed. Californians have destroyed freedom in their own state.

Even worse, when even Californians get fed up with the police state that they created, they move to other states and start undermining democracy in their adopted states as well. I am not a fan of Michael Savage but he is right about one thing. It is a mental disorder - and it can be a deadly, contagious disease as well.

[Hoot Gibson]

I agree, but I take it one step further! In the true spirit of government, let's ban Tobacco of all sorts. It's bad for you, so ban it. Then Alcohol, let's ban that too. Since drivers between the ages of 16-20 die in more accidents than any other age, can we please change the legal age of driving to 21. Since the age varies at so many levels for what is considered an adult, can we please have enactment of 21 as the age of being legally an adult, and require anything with an age requirement to be pushed to this age. Since cell phones cause so much injury, can we make it illegal to carry a turned on cell phone when performing anything that could cause injury to another person -such as the open container law, if the phone is on, it's considered "Open", and the law carries all the way into public places, such as you cannot walk down the street with an open container, you cannot walk down the street with a cell phone "on". Let us please create laws for all of life.

I don't agree with banning tobacco but that would be the lesser of two evils. I don't like the federal government making a product like tobacco legal and then sanctimoniously levying "sin taxes" to discourage its use.

The real purpose of sin taxes is to feed state and federal governments insatiable appetite for taxes. It is how they extract money from the poorest, least educated Americans without paying a political price. The government is much interested in profiting from smoking than it is in curbing it. Ditto for gambling and alcohol consumption.