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West Virginia Senate Advances Car Secondhand Smoking Bill

By: Associated Press
Posted on: Tuesday, February 13, 2018

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – A West Virginia Senate committee has advanced a bill prohibiting smoking in motor vehicles when children age 16 or younger are in them.

The Senate Health and Human Resources Committee on Tuesday sent the bill to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The voice vote was not unanimous.

The bill would make violations a misdemeanor with a punishment of a $25 fine upon conviction.

Dr. Michael Kilkenny, director of the Cabell-Huntington Health Department, told the committee that exposure to cigarette smoking increases respiratory and heart health risks for children, even if they never smoke themselves.

Committee member Dr. Ron Stollings, a Boone County physician, called the bill “good public policy.”