Full Version: Illegal Ashtrays?
According to the NY Post, When they banned smoking in all businesses recently, including restaurants and bars, it wasn't just indoor smoking they outlawed.
A Brooklyn video store owner is being fined $6,000 for being in posession of, wait for it...... an ashtray. The story can be found here.
The health department of NYC caught this guy with an ashtray in his store that had an old cigarette butt in it. The store owner, a Mr. Arno, says he allowed a customer to put the cigarette out in it, instead of sending her all the way back outside.
Health inspectors then fined him additionally for not having "no smoking" signs in his storefront windows, and for not having a formal "no smoking policy" posted in his employee area. According to Arno:
And of course, since they "caught" him once, the inspectors have been back twice since, going over his store with a fine toothed comb, looking for any other violations.
The questions to debate:
Are state and city governments getting more than a little overzealous in their pusuit of "crimes" of this nature?
Is this a viable law, with a genuine concern for citizens health, or just another money-making opportunity for the city of New York?
If this really was part of the law, as passed, do you think it was well enough explained before being passed?
A Brooklyn video store owner is being fined $6,000 for being in posession of, wait for it...... an ashtray. The story can be found here.
The health department of NYC caught this guy with an ashtray in his store that had an old cigarette butt in it. The store owner, a Mr. Arno, says he allowed a customer to put the cigarette out in it, instead of sending her all the way back outside.
Health inspectors then fined him additionally for not having "no smoking" signs in his storefront windows, and for not having a formal "no smoking policy" posted in his employee area. According to Arno:
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"I'm a tiny video store - it's just me and a girl who comes in part-time," he said. "She knows smoking policy: We don't smoke in the store - it's bad for the videos.
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"How can they take an inanimate object and make it illegal?" he railed. "During Prohibition, alcohol was illegal, but they didn't make the shot glasses illegal. Does anyone even know that this is the law?"
And of course, since they "caught" him once, the inspectors have been back twice since, going over his store with a fine toothed comb, looking for any other violations.
The questions to debate:
Are state and city governments getting more than a little overzealous in their pusuit of "crimes" of this nature?
Is this a viable law, with a genuine concern for citizens health, or just another money-making opportunity for the city of New York?
If this really was part of the law, as passed, do you think it was well enough explained before being passed?
QUOTE
Are state and city governments getting more than a little overzealous in their pusuit of "crimes" of this nature?
The answer to this is a blatant yes. $6,000 dollars for having an ashtray? That's ridiculous. Additionally, why would the store need to have no smoking signs posted outside the entrance if it's a law that no one can smoke in any public establishment?
There are times to ask for a jury trial, and it looks like this might have been such a time. If he's already plead guilty, perhaps he can hire an attorney and appeal the fine. Was he supposed to send the customer outside to litter the streets with her cigarette butt?
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Are state and city governments getting more than a little overzealous in their pusuit of "crimes" of this nature?
Yes, and the federal government as well:
Tommy Chong, who played one half of the dope-smoking duo in the Cheech and Chong movies, was sentenced to nine months in federal prison and fined $20,000 Thursday for selling bongs and other drug paraphernalia over the Internet.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/11/...ain572796.shtml
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