Smokefree cars needs law change not adverts

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) says a law change around smoking in vehicles is needed rather than government adverts aimed at increasing awareness.

A TV campaign from the government’s Health Promotion Agency (HPA) on smoking in cars and homes began screening on Sunday night.

“We are completely supportive of the messages in this campaign, particularly encouraging smokefree cars and homes for children, but feel that the time for awareness is over and a law change is well overdue,” said ASH director Stephanie Erick.

“The ads are essentially retreads from the mid-2000s and smokefree has moved on vastly since this time.

“We’ve moved reasonable numbers away from smoking in cars, but the time has come to change the law. This could be achieved as easily as the cellphone rule change was, but with much greater public health benefit,” said Ms Erick.

The ASH Year 10 survey showed 22 per cent of students are still exposed to secondhand smoke in any given week.

ENDS

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