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Maine Bans Smoking While Driving with Youths  

The state of Maine last week passed one of the most restrictive smoking bans in the country. Dr. Jonathan Shenkin, who drove the push to regulate smoking in cars, says that while Maine's is not the first law of its kind, it goes further than any other effort to curb children's exposure to secondhand smoke.

"In a car, they're strapped in and there's no escape," Shenkin says. That is no longer the case for children in Maine, where police can now stop drivers who are smoking in a vehicle where passengers younger than 16 are present. For the first year, the penalty is a warning, but thereafter, smokers ferrying children face a $50 fine.

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