News

The latest case of an Ontario driver nabbed by police for smoking in a car carrying a minor is raising eyebrows about the new law.

A 20-year-old Port Hope, Ont., man has been ticketed for smoking in a car in which a 15-year-old girl was one of his passengers.

While Tory Ashton was waiting for his $155 ticket, the girl — a smoker herself — got out of the car and legally lit up a cigarette of her own.

The provincial politician representing the riding says this may represent a glitch in the law and wants it be examined.

Liberal Lou Rinaldi is asking for a meeting with the province's health promotions minister later this week to find ways to improve the fledgling law.

Mr. Rinaldi says one improvement might be changing the age limit on how young the passenger has to be for the smoking ban to kick in.

“In 99.9 per cent of cases, the legislation is doing the job,” he said. However he described as a “glitch” the scenario where a 20-year-old could be fined for smoking while his 15-year-old passenger could stand by the side of the road and light up.

There is no law prohibiting a 15-year-old from smoking. It is only illegal to purchase or sell tobacco to anyone under 19 years of age.

The law, which took effect last month, is designed to shield children from highly concentrated levels of nicotine while they are being driven in cars.

Mr. Rinaldi, who represents the Northumberland-Quinte West riding in eastern Ontario, also said he'd like to discuss the law with Port Hope police to see what challenges they've had in enforcing it.

Statistics on how many charges have been laid since the law's inception Jan. 21 won't be available for several weeks.

But reports have surfaced about people being fined, including separate incidents involving a 29-year-old Sarnia-area woman and a 53-year-old Kingston man. Both where nabbed at RIDE spot checks which normally check to see if a driver has been drinking.