Australian state toughens anti-smoking laws

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

SYDNEY (AFP) — Smokers in Australia's biggest city, already hounded out of bars and restaurants, will now be banned from smoking in their own cars if children are passengers, authorities announced Wednesday.

Shops will also be forced to keep cigarette packets out of sight under a tough new anti-smoking drive agreed by the government of New South Wales state, of which Sydney is the capital.

"It is a disgusting habit. For many adults it's a one-way ticket to a cancer ward or the morgue, but the children don't get the choice," state premier Morris Iemma told reporters.

Police would be empowered to issue on-the-spot fines to motorists smoking in cars carrying children under the age of 16, enforcing the law in the same way they did a ban on mobile phone use while...