There is no safe amount of secondhand smoke exposure, and even brief exposure can have negative health effects, according to experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Legislation aimed at lessening the risk that these chemicals pose to South Carolinians’ youngest citizens is being proposed by some state legislators.
The goal of a bipartisan group of senators is to outlaw smoking in cars with children present, a law that has already been implemented in twelve other states.
“I think the time has come for us to have a serious discussion, having South Carolina join these other states. Many of them are Southern states,’ Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Richland stated.
Jackson submitted a measure on Thursday that would make it illegal for anyone to smoke in a car when a child under the age of twelve is within.
It is comparable to legislation he initially introduced about twenty years ago, which was approved by the state Senate. However, Jackson claimed that tobacco firms’ resistance and differing views on smoking prevented his effort from reaching the governor’s desk.
He now thinks that enough has changed in those sentiments for this law to succeed in 2025.
“We have a greater appreciation, a greater knowledge of secondhand smoke and what it does to human beings, period, particularly what it does to children,” Jackson stated.
Anyone found to be in breach of the ban would be subject to a fine of up to $100 under the measure.
According to data, approximately 10% of South Carolina’s adult population smokes, and roughly 5% of the state’s adult population uses tobacco.
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According to Beth Johnson of the American Cancer Society, “we continue to see tobacco as a problem with the cost of our state and really just like the number of children and youth who are starting to smoke and the adults who continue to smoke.”
Jackson’s initiative is commended by the American Cancer Society, which also stated that even more extensive measures, such as financing tobacco prevention and control and passing local smoke-free laws, would have a bigger effect.
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As of right present, only 40% of South Carolina is covered by a smoke-free policy. Accordingly, smoking is prohibited indoors, including in restaurants, pubs, and workplaces, Johnson stated. “We also prioritize tobacco prevention and control because South Carolina has some of the lowest funding levels for programs that we fund in that area.”
In South Carolina, smoking directly contributes to more than $2 billion in medical costs each year, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.