A Utah senator is joining the chorus calling for a metaphorical nicotine patch on smokers who light up in public and private spaces.

While a handful of local Utah governments and health departments have either enacted or are proposing bans on smoking in public-owned spaces, Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake, is sponsoring a bill that would prohibit smoking in a vehicle with a child younger than 5 years old.

SB14 makes smoking in a car with a minor passenger who must legally be strapped into a car safety seat a secondary offense, with a fine of $45 that can be waived if the driver enrolls in a smoking-cessation program.

McCoy said his bill, which was approved Tuesday in committee, is not anti-smoking legislation or an effort to impose more government control into people's lives.

"This is not saying you can't smoke in your car, but with a child present, that's going to be a problem," McCoy said, noting that a burning cigarette in a matter of a few seconds creates air pollutants 10 to 30 times the toxicity levels of a state Department of Health "red alert" burn warning.

Breathing in pollutants of a red alert day is equal to smoking five cigarettes, McCoy said. "Smoking inside a car is 10 to 30 times that."

Senate Health and Human Services chairman Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, said he is normally opposed to bills asking for more government regulation. But when it involves a passenger who can't roll down a window — or control if they can get in the car in the first place — this bill is more than warranted, Buttars said.

Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, said he supports the bill but believes that police officers are as likely to look the other way as they are to cite a driver.

At least nine jurisdictions along the Wasatch Front want police to keep an eye out for smokers in such public-owned areas as parks, playgrounds, amphitheaters, fairgrounds, sports fields, swimming pools, skate parks and cemeteries.

A smoking ban in such places in Davis County, for example, started Jan. 1.

Others mulling similar measures include Holladay city, Weber State University, Salt Lake County and Weber-Morgan, Washington and Wasatch counties' boards of health.

Holladay's proposed ordinance points to a section of Utah code that defines second-hand smoke as a carcinogen and an Environmental Protection Agency statement that there is no acceptable level of exposure to such carcinogens.

It also lists a penalty for breaking the ordinance of not more than $25 for first-time offenders and charges police officers with issuing warnings and citations.