Federal Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) said she would review a state initiative proposing a smoking ban in cars. “We will examine the objectives of the state initiative for their feasibility,” Warken told the newspapers of the Funke Media Group, according to reports on Sunday. “Protecting health, especially that of children, should be our top priority, and consideration for others should be a matter of course.”
She added that most people are already aware of the risks of passive smoking in cars. “Passengers cannot escape exposure here; the consequences can be lung damage, respiratory complaints, and respiratory diseases,” said Warken.
Several federal states intend to once again present a draft law in the Bundesrat that would prohibit smoking in cars when children or pregnant women are present. If the upper house votes in favor of the proposal this coming Friday, the Bundestag will then be required to consider it.
Numerous associations and organizations have been calling for years for a ban on smoking in cars to protect minors and pregnant women from passive smoke. These include the German Children’s Fund, the German Cancer Research Center, the German Medical Association, and the Professional Association of Pediatricians. Two years ago, plans by then-Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) for such a ban failed, in part due to resistance from the FDP, then a coalition partner.
President of the German Medical Association Klaus Reinhardt told the Funke newspapers that a smoking ban in cars with minors or pregnant women was “long overdue.” By contrast, the Union’s health policy spokeswoman, Simone Borchardt, rejected such a legal change. An exclusive ban in cars was “a placebo,” Borchardt told the Funke newspapers. She argued that in reality many children are also exposed to tobacco smoke at home or in other social environments.
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