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Action on Smoking and Health
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ASH's Custody and Smoking  Information Page
How YOU Can Fight Back If Your Spouse Smokes Around YOUR Child
Are you involved in a dispute over custody, and your spouse smokes in the presence of  your child and/or permits others to do so?
Are you separated or divorced, and worried about the health of your child when he or she is with the other parent who smokes in the child's presence?
If so, you should know the following:
* In at least 18 states, courts have ruled that subjecting a child to tobacco smoke is a factor which SHOULD be considered in deciding custody.
* NO judge and no court has ever ruled that subjecting a child to tobacco smoke should be IGNORED in deciding custody.
* In thousands of cases, courts have issued orders prohibiting smoking in the presence of a child, especially in cars.
* In some cases the orders prohibit smoking in a home 24 (or even 48) hours before the child arrives.
* In some cases, parents have lost custody or had visitation reduced because they subjected a child to tobacco smoke.
* Existing court orders regarding custody, visitation, etc. can often be modified if a child is being subjected to tobacco smoke.
* As the evidence of the harmful effects of tobacco smoke on children increases, it should become easier to raise this vital health issue.
* Even if no court in your state has yet ruled on this issue, you should still raise it and use the legal precedent created by these many decisions.
* Courts determine the legal custody and residential arrangements in accordance with the "best interests of the child." This includes medical health.
"The controversy over whether smokers damage the health of people they live with has found its way into child custody cases -- and that's bad news for smokers."  Wall Street Journal


"Parents who smoke in front of their children may get burned in child custody and visitation disputes." Lawyers Weekly
 “This Court cannot comprehend [that] a parent, knowing that their child suffers from asthma and severe upper respiratory infection problems, with four (4) hospitalizations and twenty (20) plus doctor visits in almost two (2) years, and being warned of the danger of cigarette smoking as it affects the child's asthma as well as the other well-publicized ... effects of secondhand cigarette smoke, would continue to [smoke], thereby directly contributing to the misery and suffering this child has had to endure. To do this to a child is no less child abuse than if you had deprived him of food or medical treatment.” Actual appellate court decision. "The Trial Judge found that the failure of the mother and grandmother to discontinue smoking when recommended by the child's physician was strong evidence of a lack of proper concern for the welfare of the child.  A belated cessation of smoking might evidence a desire for the custody of the child rather than concern for the welfare of the child." 
Actual appellate court decision.

You can read about many recent developments related to smoking and custody by typing "smoking custody" [without the " symbol] into the search engine box on ASH's web site -- http://ash.org -- found on the upper left.

You can read a summary of some of the evidence about the effects of smoking on a child by clicking here: ASH's Foster Care Petition

You can also read some of the many news articles posted on ASH's web page about the problems secondhand tobacco smoke can cause in kids -- including asthma, increased risk of lung cancer, ear infections, lower grades, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome [SIDS], anti-social behavior, respiratory infections which can even lead to deaths -- etc. by using the "Topic Index" on ASH's web site under "Children and Tobacco" -- found on the upper right

In addition, as a special public service to help parents of children who are being subjected to the many known dangers of secondhand tobacco smoke, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), a 39-year old legal-action charitable organization entirely supported by tax-deductible contributions, has put together a description of some of the leading judicial decisions in this area of the law along with other important information of special interest to parents in this situation.

This document can be downloaded by clicking on the link below.

Please note, however, that this information is made available specially to member-supporters of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).  To find out how you can become a member of ASH on line, and to obtain access to this and other valuable information for members, as well receive as several special gifts, please click here to learn the many benefits of joining ASH on-line.

Once you join -- which you can do conveniently on-line -- you will receive by e-mail the user name and password you need to unlock this valuable information, as well as many other member-only pages about other health topics.  Your other gifts will be sent to you by mail.

Please don't hesitate.  Drifting tobacco smoke already kills more people that motor vehicle accidents, all crimes, AIDS, illegal drugs, etc.  In other words, people are statistically more likely to die as a result of drifting tobacco smoke than by a car, gun, or the AIDS virus.  It has been estimated that thousands of children are killed every year by drifting tobacco smoke, and many suffer irreversible medical conditions.

Also, your contribution to join ASH is fully tax deductible.

Once you have become a member of  ASH  you can access the valuable additional information about protecting your rights as a nonsmoking parent --  including a growing list of valuable legal precedents -- by clicking on the following link: ASH's Custody and Smoking Page  

 Updated:  June 25, 2006