Smoking banned in cars carrying children

Deputies have also supported a move to investigate whether and how to increase the age of people to whom it is illegal to sell tobacco products.

However, a proposal to outlaw the commercial growing of tobacco in Guernsey failed narrowly.

Presenting the proposals, Health & Social Care president Deputy Al Brouard said there was no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke and that the Bailiwick had been left as the only British jurisdiction that had not yet imposed a ban on smoking with children in the car.

‘The concentration of toxins present in a car when someone is smoking – including when all windows are open – is higher than the concentration of toxins in pubs prior to the indoor smoking ban,’ he said.

Such toxins could cause sudden infant death syndrome, pneumonia and various respiratory problems, he warned.

A ban would be a contributing factor to ‘denormalising’ smoking, which was still the biggest cause of preventable ill-health and death in Guernsey and therefore cost taxpayers millions.

In response to a concern from Deputy Lester Queripel about how the vehicle ban would be policed, Deputy Brouard said the intent was not to criminalise but to discourage.

Deputy David De Lisle said he was delighted to see mention in the policy letter of the importance of avoiding exposure to PM2.5 particles in cigarette smoke and urged members to move faster on dealing with the same particles being emitted from the PEH and the Bridge.

In presenting the successful amendment that proposed the investigation into increasing the age limit, Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez tried to ward off consideration of libertarian arguments by saying it was unclear whether smokers exercised choice, or were involuntarily servicing an addiction.

Deputy Dave Mahoney supported the move, saying his motivation was not to protect people who chose to put poison into their veins, but to save taxpayers’ money.

However, Deputy John Gollop was concerned about how this would be made to work, speculating that if Guernsey followed the UK and ended up banning a 36-year-old from buying cigarettes while a 37-year-old could go ahead, it ‘could encourage judicial review’.

The ban on growing tobacco failed to secure enough backing, with the vote tied 16-16.

During debate, Deputy Sasha Kazantseva-Miller argued it would introduce a double standard.

‘I cannot think of any other industry which we ban but at the same time we allow importation,’ she said.