Jump to full article: Canadian Press, 2003-01-22
Intro: Richard Bouchard, a criminal law professor at the University of Moncton, said it's possible to argue the case considering that under the Criminal Code of Canada parents are responsible for providing the "necessities of life."
Bouchard said that because the necessities of life include food, shelter and medical care, "it's not a big jump" to say children should be provided with a healthy environment to live in and they should not be exposed to harmful substances and situations that threaten their health.
"You could perhaps make a case that a child living under those circumstances of smoking parents and when the house is constantly filled with smoke and the child is exposed to second-hand smoke, that the parents are failing to live up to the duty which is imposed upon them," Bouchard said.
The comments follow a statement Tuesday by a Canadian Lung Association spokesman that smoking around children is tantamount to child abuse.
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