Handsel Art

PRESS RELEASE

Date: 5 April 2008

For Immediate Release

Contact: J.R. Few at

(870) 427-1365 or email

handselart@marioncounty.com

Protecting Children from Tobacco in Cars

Officer Paul Robson displays the Arkansas Department of Health flier Tobacco-Free Marion County distributes to inform the public about laws protecting children from secondhand smoke in vehicles. Officer Robson is the School Resource Officer for the Flippin public schools.

Act 13 of 2006 made it illegal to smoke around children restrained in a vehicle safety seat. Children are especially sensitive to the hazards of secondhand smoke. As a primary offense, a driver may be pulled over and ticketed for this violation alone.

TFMC coordinator Julie Andersen notes, “Hopefully these brochures will make Officer Robson’s job of protecting children easier. Many parents are unaware of the hazards of secondhand smoke and the law.”

The penalty for a first offense is a $25 fine that can be overlooked with evidence of having joined a tobacco cessation course. Officer Robson also has information available about the UAMS College of Public Health’s free quit line at 1-866 NOW QUIT.

Arkansas, after Puerto Rico, was the first state to pass legislation protecting children from tobacco smoke in vehicles. Since 2006 California and Louisiana have established even stronger protections for children. Next week Maine’s Governor John Baldacci is expected to sign legislation based on a local ordinance from Bangor, Maine that protects all children under 16 from secondhand smoke in vehicles.

###