Youth Leadership Initiative (YLI) ®

Information on the Law

·         The Arkansas Protection from Secondhand Smoke for Children Act, also known as Act 13, first passed in 2006.

·         Act 13 of 2006 protected children under 6 and weighing less than 60 pounds from secondhand smoke while in vehicles.

·         During the 88^th General Assembly in 2011, Sen. Percy Malone, a Democrat from Arkadelphia, filed a bill to increase the age of protection for the law.

·         After passing the Arkansas Senate and House of Representatives, Governor Mike Beebe signed the bill into law on March 30, 2011.

·         The new law, called Act 811 of 2011, protects children under age 14 from secondhand smoke while in vehicles.

·         The law takes effect on July 27, 2011.

·         Violating the law is a primary offense, meaning drivers can be pulled over and ticketed if seen smoking in a vehicle with a child.

·         Violators must pay a $25 fine on their first offense, unless they can prove enrollment in a program to quit smoking.

·         Arkansas was the first state in the nation to implement a law protecting children from secondhand smoke in vehicles.

·         Other states such as California, Louisiana, Maine and Puerto Rico soon followed.

Information on Secondhand Smoke

·         Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at an increased risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, lower respiratory infections, middle ear disease, more severe asthma and slowed lung growth.

·         470 Arkansans die from secondhand smoke each year.

·         Cigarette smoke contains hundreds of toxic chemicals – at least 69 of which cause cancer.

·         Children are especially vulnerable to health effects of secondhand smoke because their respiratory, immune and nervous systems are still developing.

·         There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.