Scotland, the U.K.’s northernmost country, is a land of mountain wildernesses such as the Cairngorms and Northwest Highlands, interspersed with glacial glens (valleys) and lochs (lakes). It is one of the most very nice places you can go to when you want to relax. However, smoking remains Scotland’s biggest preventable killer, accounting for one in five deaths, 128,000 annual hospital admissions and a drain of up to £500 million on the NHS every year.
Smoking Ban In Cars With Child Passengers To Come Into Force In Scotland
According to The Scotsman, after more than a century of the mass consumption of tobacco, all that has largely disappeared within a generation, hastened by Scotland’s trailblazing smoking ban ten years ago. Although one in three people still smoke in Scotland’s most deprived areas, the rate has fallen to just 9 percent. The habit is even falling out fashion among teenagers, with fewer than one in ten 15-year-olds smoking compared with 29 percent 20 years ago.
Last Monday, health campaigners hope the downward trend continues when smoking is banned in cars with children – and that it will encourage a change in habits at home too. The law came by Lib Dem MSP Jim Hume in the previous session of parliament. Mr Hume, whose mother died of cancer caused by second-hand smoke, introduced the Smoking Prohibition (Children in Motor Vehicles) Bill and won unanimous backing from MSPs.
Smoking Is Also Damaging
Ms Campbell said: "It's simply not safe to smoke when a child is in the car. Dangerous levels of chemicals can build up, even on short journeys, and 85% of second-hand smoke is invisible and odourless so you can't always see what they're breathing in. As reported by BBC, the research shows that second-hand smoke can cause serious conditions including the three difficult diseases bronchitis, pneumonia and asthma.
Irene Johnstone, head of the British Lung Foundation in Scotland, said in Daily Record: "This new law will not only help reduce the exposure of second-hand smoke, but will also go a long way in helping Scotland becoming a tobacco-free generation." Hoewver, we cannot deny that there are still people that would do the same as they wan it.
