HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) – Nova Scotia’s newly enacted ban on smoking in vehicles carrying children will not only protect them from harmful second-hand smoke, but create a “wave of change” across the country, the Canadian Cancer Society said.

The province became the first in Canada to pass such a ban on Thursday, winning applause from the cancer society.

“People are watching Nova Scotia quite closely,” Meg McCallum of the group’s Nova Scotia division said. “They’re seeing Nova Scotia as a leader in tobacco control and I believe the passing of this legislation is really going to create a wave of change across the country.”

The Nova Scotia law makes it illegal to smoke in a vehicle with anyone under the age of 19 inside.

McCallum said second-hand smoke is far more toxic in the enclosed space of a vehicle, and children are more susceptible to its harmful effects, such as chronic ear infections, asthma and other respiratory conditions.

According to the society, one in five children are exposed to second-hand smoke while riding in cars.

The legislature follows the lead of Wolfville, Nova Scotia, where town council voted last month to implement its own ban. Similar bills have also been introduced in British Columbia and Ontario.

In Maine, the city of Bangor has an ordinance under which violators face $50 fines if they smoke while anyone under 18 is in the vehicle. Maine’s Legislature will consider a similar proposal in 2008, and at least two other states have laws on the books.

Nova Scotia’s legislation, which was proposed by the opposition Liberals and gained support from all parties, is expected to be proclaimed law next month.

However, Health Promotion Minister Barry Barnet said the province will try to educate people and allow them to adjust to the new rules before police start handing out fines, which for first-time offenders will be more than $380.

Barnet said the law will serve as an educational tool and he predicted Nova Scotians will get the message.

“I don’t expect and I hope that we will never have to charge anybody under this section of the legislation,” said Barnet.

“I really believe that making them aware of the fact that it has negative health consequences is the right thing to do, and parents will do the right thing … We don’t want to make criminals out of mothers and fathers.”

The law becomes part of a broader government policy to curb smoking rates, which includes a ban on point-of-sale advertising, said Barnet. But it was Wolfville that led the way in Canada when it comes to protecting young passengers from smoke in cars.

Wolfville’s bylaw is set to come into force in June, but Mayor Robert Stead said the town would be happy to set its bylaw aside and go with the provincial legislation. Stead took some of the credit for the Nova Scotia law when asked Thursday whether the province would have moved on its own.

“I think we wouldn’t be (in the same position), and I am very happy that we are, very pleased,” Stead said at the provincial legislature in Halifax. “This has happened at almost breakneck speed when you consider the pace at which these normally move from a municipal level and private member’s bill through to conclusion.”

Smokers puffing away in downtown Halifax had mixed reactions.

“I don’t see anything particularly wrong with it. I think it’s fairly reasonable,” said Peter Whelly, 60. “After all, you do have to look after your children.”

Whelly said the legislation seems reasonable, especially compared with harsher rules proposed in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, where town council is examining a sweeping ban in virtually all public places.

“They don’t want to go too far like Bridgewater,” he said. “They’re right out of their minds down there.”

AP-ES-12-13-07 1714EST

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