THE ban on smoking, with one of the main targets being restaurants and pubs where food is served, will undoubtedly make the air cleaner and healthier for non-smokers.

However, as these places are mostly frequented by adults, they will be the ones who benefit most.

So what about the places where children come under threat from passive smoking? Not least their parents car for instance.

Children are in a confined space, inhaling smoke virtually every day throughout their developing years. The harmful effects must be far greater than they are for the adult who inhales passive smoke in a well-ventilated room, on the odd occasion that they wine and dine.

If it's against the law to smack children, then it must surely be against the law to subject them to the harmful - and possibly addictive - effects of passive smoke. Smacking never did my generation any harm, but smoking from a young age almost certainly did.

And since the Government is so concerned about the nations health - with heart disease, obesity, diabetes and cancer on the increase and threatening to cripple the NHS - what are they planning to do about vehicle emissions? Aren't they every bit as carcinogenic as cigarette smoke?

Environmental experts have calculated that anyone constantly breathing traffic fumes in British cities is taking the same risks as a heavy smoker: Breathing the air in Glasgow, for instance, is like puffing on 44 cigarettes a day.

Could it be then that these car exhauset emissions are responsible for the rising number of all forms of cancer? They have certainly been linked to leukaemia. How can we be so sure that cigarette smoke alone is responsible for all the ill-health it is said to be causing?

One thing we do know, though, is that vehicle emissions are contributing to the sharp rise in greenhouse gases, which could mean that the devastating effects of climate change may hit the world even sooner than predicted. With accelerated global warming, and the hole in the ozone layer, what we are doing is laying new carpets while ignoring the gaping hole in the roof.

Accordingly, without more positive steps to reduce vehicle emissions, all other health initiatives could prove pointless. If it makes sense to ban smoking, then it must also make sense to ban tail-gating, and excessive and inappropriate speed.

As long as the roads are so hostile and intimidating, how can people be expected to ride bicycles and how will unhealthy people get the exercise and fresh air they so desperately need?

ALLAN RAMSAY