The German government is considering a ban on smoking in cars in the presence of children or pregnant women, prompting criticism even within Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition.
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach announced the ban on Friday, which is to be introduced in an upcoming bill aimed at legalizing cannabis. “Children and pregnant women need better protection in society,” the social democracy minister explained on Twitter.
“It is necessary to ban smoking in the car while travelling. It should have been introduced earlier,” he ruled, underlining the risk of “irreversible damage” caused by passive smoking. But the move does not include the conservative opposition CDU-CSU, or the liberal FDP, which are not yet part of the governing coalition.
“general knowledge”
“Karl Lauterbach can happily live his health madness privately,” said Christine Lüttke, spokeswoman for the FDP’s group in the Bundestag for public health issues. “Common sense already rules out smoking in cars with boys and pregnant women – no additional ban needed”.
The CDU party, the government’s main opponent, along with the formation of the far-right AfD, point to the risk of unconstitutionality. “Such a ban would be difficult to apply in practice,” says Dino Sorge, who is responsible for health issues within the Christian Democratic Party. “Such a ban cannot be controlled, or very little can be controlled,” adds the association of German motorists (Adac).
Endless smoking
On the other hand, the Minister of Health received the support of the German Cancer Research Center, recalling that, according to data from 2018, about 800,000 minors are exposed to passive smoking in cars. The Professional Association of Pediatric and Adolescent Physicians wants to go further.
“It is urgent to ban smoking at home,” a spokesman for the association told Bild newspaper on Saturday. “Especially between the four walls of the home, children suffer the greatest damage from second-hand smoke.”
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