Boulder Colorado seems proud (?) to further enhance this odd American tradition.
City Council members signaled that they’re not done trying to stamp out public, outdoor smoking — at a meeting Tuesday night, George Karakehian warned businesses and residents of the student-heavy University Hill area that “it’s coming” to their neighborhood as well.I bet they're shitting themselves. To adequately enforce this, city cops will be crawling all over the 500 acre exclusion zone, obviously. There'll be hundreds of them working in shifts!
Still, at least all that huge extra expense to taxpayers is directly targeted at solidly evidence-based harm to the community, eh?
The ban prohibits smoking tobacco and e-cigarettes in alleys behind businesses, within 25 feet of a bus stop, on all walking and hiking paths through city parks (and within 15 feet of those paths) and on all city-owned open space, according to the Daily Camera.So which workers are harmed by smoking outdoors exactly - don't they have cars in Boulder? Is this a Flintstones feet-through-the-chassis thing? And how many bystanders have been proven to have suffered harm from e-cig emissions 25 feet from a bus stop or, err, anywhere?
Better arm those legions of cops with binoculars and water vapour detection equipment, cos I reckon I could vape standing directly behind one of them and they'd be none the wiser.
Boulder has been on something of a law-and-order kick in recent months. The city recently raised formerly petty offenses like drinking alcohol from an open container ...Because it should only be drunk if unopened?
... and peeing in the bushes to jailable offenses.Jail for pointing Percy? We're surely at peak pointless pontification here, aren't we?
Violating the [smoke and vapour-free] ordinance would be a municipal infraction that normally costs about $100, but fines can range as high as $1,000 and up to 90 days in jail for repeat offenders.{splutter}
"I get more grief about this issue from my friends than any other issue, that Boulder is becoming a nanny state," [Councilwoman Suzanne Jones said].No shit!
As I've mentioned before; the smaller the state, the more stupid and totalitarian the politicians who run it.
