Ban Smoking In Cars Nick Triggle Analysis

At what point is the line crossed when deliberating how much power the government should be allowed to have in our personal lives? In respect to smoking cigarettes, that question is sure to arise in readers of a 2011 article by Nick Triggle titled “Ban smoking in cars, says British Medical Association” (BMA). Triggle is a highly acclaimed journalist and health correspondent for the British Broadcasting Corporation, having extensively reported on the National Health Service (NHS), social care and health issues within the United Kingdom (UK). The BMA is the trade union and professional body for doctors in the UK. They bargain for doctors on employment matters and lobby for improvements to health and healthcare. This article reports on the BMAs support for a ban on all smoking in cars across the UK. As should be expected from an awarded correspondent, Triggle does well in providing the evidence used to support the ban as well as salient viewpoints from others and the standpoints of outside countries on the topic. However, he does not provide references to corroborate the mentioned scientific …show more content…
“Highlighted research shows the levels of toxins in a car can be up to 23 times higher than in a smoky bar”. It is implied other compelling research was used to support the call for the ban to be extended. At the very end of the article Triggle notes that, after the fact, the BMA retracted the claim because other research disputed the figure. The concentration of toxins was lowered to 11 times greater than in a bar and the BMA contended the factoid was mistakenly presented due to human error. This is an important mention, but it was simply noted at the bottom and not discussed in the article. Knowing that false evidence was used to support the ban, it would have been helpful to expand on it and sensible to go back and check to see if the other evidence is correct and