LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) – Arkansas State Police posted on Facebook reminding people it is illegal to smoke tobacco in your car with a child under the age of 14. With vaping devices becoming more and more popular, some people asked if this law also applied to e-cigarettes.
"It's the worst possible scenario. The people who are really using juuls and e-cigarettes are really young people and those are the people that have young kids,” Dr. Gary Wheeler said.
In 2006, Arkansas lawmakers passed a bill prohibiting smoking in all motor vehicles with a child under the age of six. In 2015, that was amended saying a person should not knowing smoke tobacco in a car with a child under the age of 14. A person who violates this law could be pulled over and fined $25.
“It is also written in the law if the person who committed the offense enters a cessation program…there’s the option to wave the fine,” Dr. Wheeler said.
But are vaping devices also included in this law?
"Under Arkansas law, the definition of smoking do not apply to e-cigarettes at this time,” Dr. Wheeler said.
Bill Sadler with Arkansas State Police said if a law enforcement officer can prove in court the vaping cartridge being used at the time of the traffic stop contained any amount of tobacco in it, a judge would decide whether the user had violated the law.
Dr. Wheeler, the chief medical officer at the Arkansas Department of health, said the Health Department is seeing more and more cases of parents smoking e-cigarettes with their kids in the car.
"The problem is in a confined place like a car, the amount of smoke you get from a cigarette is dramatic and much higher than you would see in a bar or another intense situation,” he said.
But is e-cigarette smoke just as dangerous as secondhand smoke?
"I'm a pediatrician. I have taken care of kids who had been admitted to the hospital for respiratory symptoms related to cigarettes and my concern as well with e-cigarettes is similar,” Dr. Wheeler said. “It might not be quite as intense or quite as frequent, but any amount of smoke or fume exposure is potentially harmful."
Wheeler said there is not much data out there supporting e-cigarette smoke is just as harmful as secondhand smoke. He said, however, it can still be detrimental to children if exposed to it in a setting like a car.
"We do know e-cigarettes in general release particulate and other toxins that have anecdotally been reported to precipitate respiratory symptoms like asthma,” Dr. Wheeler said.
He said the best way to protect your child’s health is to not expose them to any tobacco product, whether it be cigarette or e-cigarette.