Can Wolfville stop people from smoking in their cars?
BY WENDY ELLIOTT
The Advertiser
NovaNewsNow.com
Smoke-Free Kings didn’t have to apply any pressure for the town of Wolfville to look at a bylaw that would ban smoking in vehicles when anyone under 16 is inside.
The proposal came from Catherine Hebb, Stephen Peters and Doug Hergett, representing a community group that in 2000 pushed the municipality to become the first in Nova Scotia to ban smoking in public places.
Now Mayor Bob Stead and his six councillors will have to figure out whether the municipality can stop smokers from lighting up in one of the few private spaces left.
On Feb. 5, Hergett called council a catalyst in the past and said he hoped it could provide leadership again. The retired Anglican minister said, “I’d like to go out with second-hand smoke banned.”
Peters reminded council that the negative impact on children of second-hand smoke in a small, enclosed space is “kind of a no-brainer. It’s incredibly unsafe.”
The proposal in Wolfville could be similar to an ordinance passed last month in Bangor, Maine. Violators there face a $50 fine if they smoke in a car with anyone under 18 present. Three American states have also looked at the issue.
Tanya Sponagle
Comment online since February 17th 2007How exactly does one stop people from smoking in their cars? Will there be a roadcheck upon entry to the town? What's the next step--banning smoking from people's own houses with nightly raids on private homeowners to enforce laws? What about pregnant women who smoke--lock them up for nine months so they can't 'abuse' the unborn child? I think people of the town of Wolfville, especially those belonging to 'Smoke Free Kings' (No Rights to Kings) should do some reading....try '1984' or 'The Chrysalids'.....or perhaps study Germany in the early 1940s....