Add more ammunition to the arsenal of anti-smoking efforts of the last report on tobacco smoke from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to researchers, more than 1 in 5 high school and middle school students are the passengers in the car while the others are smoking. (One caveat: In the case of high school students, the study did not determine if they were in the car with their parents or peers)

A study based on national surveys conducted in schools, and the CDC released Monday, says that more than 22 percent of teens and preteens were subjected to passive smoking in cars in 2009. This is the last year that data are available, according to the Associated Press, but we doubt that he has changed; accept, perhaps, to grow.

This is because with increasing energy, cities across the country are going to “smokeless” banning smoking in private businesses, and even outdoors in some cases.

What is bothersome about the decrees, they will do little to curb smoking in the long run.

People quit smoking all kinds of reasons, mostly because of health problems, either alone or those of loved ones. Smokers know their habit is not healthy. But banning a legal activity is not so much a deterrent as some would believe.

It just turns ordinary citizens into pariahs, “socially unacceptable” and condemned for their habits, while others practice their unpleasant – and potentially dangerous – habit of contempt without friends, relatives and even strangers.

Ever overheard someone else ask why the overweight person of his choice super sized meal hamburger and fries? Probably not ― especially with so many people carrying concealed weapons these days. But criticizing a smoker, and doing so with marked disdain and self-righteousness? It’s not the thing to do.

Riding in a car with anyone, any age, and smoking can be considered rude and inattentive at least a non-smoker, if you have other objections. Some smokers admit that if they do not smoke, sitting with someone who can be both uncomfortable and smelly.

A parent who smokes with children in the car, according to current evidence, is jeopardizing the children’s health. Why would a parent who is normally sometimes overly concerned about the sniffles not understand the danger? Thus the CDC study is properly advising against the practice. The study’s authors, all good intentions, encourage all States to follow the example of several that have banned smoking in the car when a child has.

Is a smoker’s home ― even when no children are present ― the next battleground? After all, if the home’s windows are opened on a mild spring day, a hint of smoke might waft into a neighbor’s yard.

Smoking is a habit. Smokers know. But the turn smokers into criminals are not the answer. Raising the price of cigarettes was somewhat effective, although this has created a black market trade that will only get worse.

Attempts to ban do not work with alcohol. And let’s be honest: It did not work with drugs. Why do we expect it to work with tobacco?

Education would be a more worthy effort, if we have spent so much time – and funding – to discuss how we spend trying to dictate the behavior of the individual.

Tags: tobacco prohibition

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