Health
Plans: Ban smoking in cars with children and pregnant women
The aim is to put an end to harmful passive smoking by children in cars. photo
© Peter Steffen/dpa
An initiative by the Federal Ministry of Health is intended to protect children and pregnant women from passive smoking in the car in the future. But there are also critical voices about the ban plans.
The editorial network Germany (RND) had reported first. The draft from the house of Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) would have to be coordinated with other departments before it is presented to the cabinet.
Fines of up to 3000 euros
Accordingly, the smoking ban, which already applies in local public transport, for example, should also be implemented “in closed vehicles in the presence of minors or pregnant women”. Since 2019, several federal states had launched initiatives to enforce this extension and imposed fines of up to 3,000 euros in the event of a violation. Most recently, in March 2022, the Bundesrat decided to introduce a corresponding draft law to the Bundestag.
The Lower Saxony state government justified this with reference to the German Cancer Research Center by saying that the concentration of tobacco in cars could be five times higher “than in an average smoky restaurant”. For children and adolescents, this could cause damage to the lungs, respiratory diseases and middle ear infections.
Around a million minors exposed to tobacco smoke in the car
In infants, the risk of sudden infant death increases. Newborns whose mothers smoked during pregnancy or were passive smokers often had a significantly lower birth weight and height growth as well as reduced lung function. According to estimates by the German Cancer Research Center, around one million minors in Germany are currently exposed to tobacco smoke in cars.
Lauterbach wrote on Twitter about the required ban: “It should have been introduced earlier; permanent damage can occur, especially during pregnancy and in small children”. Children and pregnant women need better protection in society.
“New regulations that can hardly be implemented in practice”
The FDP health politician Lars Lindemann was critical of the ban plans. He considers “approaches to support and promote smoking cessation to be a better way,” as he told the German Press Agency on Friday. This would require strong educational campaigns that focus primarily on the harmfulness to children. “Here Health Minister Lauterbach could raise awareness.”
The deputy chairman of the Union parliamentary group, Ulrich Lange, also called for more clarification. “We’re getting further with this than with new bans,” said the CSU politician to the “Rheinische Post”. He appealed “to the reason of drivers and their consideration for passengers”. The Union health expert Tino Sorge spoke of “new regulations that can hardly be implemented in practice”. Protecting against the dangerous influences of passive smoking is the right thing to do, the CDU politician told the newspaper. “However, regulations must also be measured in terms of their practicability and feasibility.”
Children’s charity welcomes plans
Support for Lauterbach’s initiative came from the German Children’s Fund. “The protection of children and young people must finally be legally secured here,” said federal manager Holger Hofmann. Studies in Canada, where there has long been a legal smoking ban in large parts of the country, have shown that smoking in cars in the presence of children has decreased significantly as a result.
The Police Union (GdP) is skeptical about enforcing such a ban. Its federal chairman, Jochen Kopelke, told the German Press Agency: “In principle, it is good to protect people from unnecessary dangers, but such an intention must be feasible.” In his view, this would only be possible if Lauterbach ensured that the necessary funds for police traffic surveillance were made available in the 2024 budget. This would be possible via the so-called pact for the rule of law – which includes support for the states by the federal government.
When asked how a ban should be controlled, a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Health said: “We also have a cell phone ban in the car, and that is also controlled and that works too.”
The Ministry of Health wants to extend this to e-cigarettes and cannabis products where there is a smoking ban by law.