The Next Step For A Smoke-Free Generation: a multidisciplinary study of opportunities for expanding smoke-free environments in the Netherlands (translated from Dutch) 249 7 In the Netherlands, the Health Funds for Smoke-Free has commissioned annual surveys on support for smoke-free policies. In 2022, 91% of 1,032 respondents were in favour of smoke-free cars with children (including four in five smokers).23 Of those surveyed, 91% were also in favour of smoke-free playgrounds.23 Implementation lessons from interviews with key people in England and France Five online in-depth interviews were conducted. The four key people from England regarding smoking in cars were a CEO of the action group Action on Smoking and Health, a former CEO of the British Lung Foundation, a medical specialist and a member of the British Parliament. In France, we interviewed the director of the Comité National Contre le Tabagisme. Other possible interview candidates in France that we approached always referred too- back to this central organisation, given their long-term involvement in tobacco control policies. We found no other individuals working in the field for a long time who could tell us more about the implementation of smoke-free playgrounds in 2016. Since 1 October 2015, it has been illegal in England to smoke in cars in the presence of children younger than 18 years.24 Violating this rule carries a £50 fine. Leading up to this, much was invested in providing research data on the harmfulness of second-hand smoke to support politicians in their advocacy in the political arena. Monitoring the impact after introduction of the new legislation was also essential to parry negative media coverage: “(...) the police were telling the media that it would be impossible to enforce, and that they didn’t have the capacity and this was all terrible. And we kept saying to the media, that if you look at the surveys, it doesn’t look like it’s not working, in fact it is working; it’s supported by the public.” Members of Parliament who played a decisive role in making smoke-free cars a reality remembered the smoky car journeys of their own childhood and decided to make it a major focus partly for personal motives. Celebrities gave their support for the same reason. “We were able to get a lot of celebrities’ record adverts for us, for free. A lot of them have experience of their parents smoking in cars. “There was also acclaim from the personal sphere towards a key policymaker: “(...) My fifteen-year-old son told me I was an idiot, if I wasn’t going to back [the] bill.” The centrality of child protection helped increase support for smoke-free policies: “Child protection was hugely effective, because it got teachers behind us, it got parents behind us, and they
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