NO SMOKING: Drive me home, Daddy!

NO SMOKING: Drive me home, Daddy!

According to the British Lung Foundation, more than 430,000 children are exposed to second-hand smoke in cars each week. There are 10 million adult smokers in the UK, and one of their many consequences is that they are affecting their own kids when they smoke in their cars. As a result of this, the English and the Welsh government are to implement a new law which will ban smoking in cars carrying children with a penalty fine of £50. But, is it enough? Are they conscious of the problem of smoking in cars?

On the one hand, there are still too many people who smoke in their cars that are still unaware aabout how this affects themselves and the other second-hand smokers. These are some of their many consequences: second-hand smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, some of which are known to cause cancer; smoke can stay in the air for up to two and a half hours even with a window open; smoking in a car creates a higher concentration of toxins than in a bar - some research has put it at 11 times higher; research indicates 300,000 children in the UK visit a GP each year because of the effects of second-hand smoke, with 9,500 going to hospital…

On the other hand smoking in cars is allowed, provided that they don't throw away the cigarettes on roads or highways. Without talking about how much it can affect the other passengers if someone is smoking in the car, in Spain it is one of the main reasons of having a car accident, because it is a very common distraction. I think that if they are in a jam, and they are very anxious, they could have the possibility of smoking if this "relaxes" them.

In my opinion, I would never understand why people continue smoking, especially young people, because I’ve had at least 4 or 5 lessons about the effects of smoking at school and I can't see its relaxing effects, especially when I see the trembling hands of smokers I don’t find it very relaxing. Others will say that it is cool, but I don't find it 'cool' when someone dies of cancer. But well, each one decides how he will like to die and to live.