There is now strong evidence that smoking in vehicles exposes non-smokers to high levels of second hand smoke which is known to be damaging to heath, the BMA said.

Because of the small enclosed space inside a car, smoking creates 23 times more toxins than found in a smoky bar, it was claimed.

Now when I say that this is a damned lie I’m not talking about people playing with statistics or anything. I mean that it’s a flat out, untrue, known to be untrue, statement.

It’s also a damned lie that they’re waving around to try and ban anyone from smoking in their own cars.

Here’s how that 23 times was calculated:

The calculated exposure for a five hour automobile trip with the windows closed/ventilation off and with a smoking rate of 2 cigarettes per hour is 25 times higher than the same exposure scenario in a residence.

Note the entirely unreal scenario: 10 fags smoked in a car without anyone opening a window or even having the little blower on? And it’s then related to the same number of cigarettes being smoked in a “residence”, ie, at home, not in a pub.

So what’s the true number?

To provide some context about the PM2.5 levels recorded in this study, in a recent report of PM2.5 levels in Irish pubs throughout the world, the average level of PM2.5 in 48 Irish pubs that allowed smoking was 340 μg/m3.

Quite probably the most important thing you need to know about this modern world is that just about everybody is lying to you. Yes, including the damn doctors.