Well, here we go:
Smoking in passenger vehicles with children under age 13 would be against state law under legislation endorsed by an Indiana House Committee on Tuesday.
The House Judiciary Committee approved the bill 8-1 and sent it to the full, Democrat-controlled House, where its author, Democratic Rep. Charlie Brown of Gary, predicted it would pass. He said he was not sure how it would fare in the Republican-ruled Senate.
Brown said he understood that some people "would view the legislation as government intrusion." Gee, do you think? If the purpose is "to protect the children," what's the difference between your house and your car? Brown is also the guy who wants at least a $1 a pack increase in the cigarette tax. Think he's a man on a mission?
Comments
I agree it's a stretch, but if it passes, blame it on that very effective and uncomfortable public service message which shows the mother strapping her child into the car seat, rolling all the windows, and then firing up a cigarette that fills the interior with trapped smoke faster than a blocked chimney flue.
Thanks to that ad, very few of us are lacking for a very sympathetic mental image of what a child can be exposed to by worst-case smokers who can't or won't make the effort to keep their kids smoke free and ventilated at least until they're old enough to make adult decisions about their vices.
It wouldn't be so bad if the PR ad represented an exaggerated picture of the smoke kids are often exposed to around adults, but if you grew up where people smoke even part of the time, I don't have to say more.
Sweet Jesus, I don't know if I can really take anymore "help" from my legislators. It may very well be time to give up and just let them take over. Seems inevitable, we are doomed to an existence where daily activities and mundane tasks like child rearing will no longer be necessary for us.
Thanks