BROCK VERGAKIS - The Associated Press | Posted: Sunday, April 23, 2006 11:00 pm
Beverly May cringes every time she sees someone smoking in a car that has a child in it.
The director of regional advocacy for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids worries about the effects secondhand smoke will have on children incapable of choosing whether to be in a smoke-filled automobile.
But she might not have to worry much longer.
A Utah legislator is considering following Arkansas' lead to ban smoking in automobiles when a child who weighs no more than 60 pounds or is 6 years old or younger is present.
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee signed that bill into law last week, although he initially thought it was a joke to distract lawmakers who were considering adopting a workplace smoking ban similar to the one in this state.
Utah expanded its Indoor Clean Air Act this spring to include private restaurants and bars. Smoking in most buildings was already prohibited. Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake City, said at the time that the smoking ban didn't go far enough and should be extended to automobiles occupied by children who are helpless to escape the smoke. His comments were largely ignored by legislators who feared amending the smoking ban bill would jeopardize it.
But McCoy's sentiments haven't changed.
"When we talk about children, they're some of the most vulnerable people that can be exposed to secondhand smoke," McCoy said. "Now that I know another state has done it, it's also obvious that it is practicable or it can be done. There's certainly a precedent for it."
Arkansas is the first state to ban smoking in a car with a child, but it allows for smoking to continue in many bars.
If Utah were to strengthen its smoking ban, it would give the state the most restrictive smoking laws in the country once the ban in bars takes effect in 2009. And banning smoking in a vehicle with a child present isn't the only idea that's been floated around by Utah legislators.
Rep. Curtis Oda, R-Clearfield, opposed banning smoking in private clubs because, like a lot of other legislators, because he said he believed it was a violation of personal property rights. Instead, he offered a substitute bill banning smoking at playgrounds and in outdoor service lines. It won approval in the House, but failed in the Senate. Utah would have been the first state to implement such a ban.
Typically, smoking bans originate at the city level, said Cynthia Hallett, executive director of Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights in Berkeley, Calif.
Nearly 500 cities nationwide had banned smoking in workplaces, restaurants and bars before legislators in Utah and Colorado passed comprehensive statewide legislation to match it.
And increasingly, cities are expanding their smoking bans to the outdoors. Midvale, a suburb about 12 miles south of Salt Lake City, joined more than 400 cities nationwide this week to ban smoking at its public parks.
"There is kind of a continuum at the city level. Once a community has really been educated about the hazards of heart disease, then they start to demand smoke-free areas where people congregate outside," Hallett said.
It's unclear what the chances of passing additional legislation limiting smoking would be. Sen. Michael Waddoups, R-West Jordan, fought for two years to ban smoking in bars. It was the first amendment to the Indoor Clean Air Act in a decade.
May, of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said of the 10 states where she advocates for workplace smoking bans, Utah has been the most difficult. People sometimes find that surprising because the state is home to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which prohibits smoking. Utah also has the lowest percentage of smoking adults in the country.
"The reality is it's difficult in Utah to work on these issues," May said. "We have caring people that care about these issues, but I also think there's a sensitivity to the fact they don't want to make it a moral issue. It's not a moral issue, it's a public health issue."
May points to the nearly three-year delay in implementing the smoking ban in bars as an example of the challenges presented here. Colorado passed a similar law this year that takes effect this year.
Most legislators who opposed banning smoking in private clubs did so on the grounds that adults should have a choice of where they go, and businesses shouldn't be told by government what they're allowed to do on their own property.
But ultimately, legislators were able to pass the bill by arguing that it would protect club employees' health as well as those of musicians.
McCoy believes children in vehicles are just as at-risk.
"It was interesting having a discussion about smoking in bars and clubs, and at the same time (I was) thinking about situations where you have a real captive in an automobile," McCoy said.
"I'm sympathetic to those (who) argue on one aspect that I don't want anyone telling me how to live my life. This is the other. It's a difficult issue, but ultimately when you look at it and weigh it out, public health issues are a little weightier."
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.