How Far Will the Cigarette Police Go?

PolitiChicks.comThere’s a new law here in Oregon that hasn’t received much press. I find this alarming because even though the intent of the law is “good” I believe it has some very negative consequences and can lead even more overreaching laws in the future.

The law makes it illegal for one to smoke in a car with a child present. Of course I understand the meaning behind this law. Cigarette smoking is unhealthy. It’s unsafe for anyone, smokers and non-smokers alike.

However…this reaches far beyond the norm. Police officers cannot pull a driver over for smoking but they can find a reason to pull a driver over and then give them a ticket for smoking with kids in the car.

One of the reasons why this law makes no sense is because the kids are still going to be around the smoker at home. What’s the difference if they’re in the car or sitting next to their parent on the couch while the parent is smoking?

And where will we draw the line? What’s next? A police officer can see an ashtray on someone’s front porch and a swing in the yard and decide to make up a reason to knock on the door, see the parent smoking, a child in the room, and then ticket them?

I tried to voice my opinion on the nanny state that Oregon is in a local group on Facebook and received the snarky comments like, “Oh wow, what’s next, the big bad government taking away babies from meth addicted moms?”

Ignorance is bliss, I tell you. This is a law that is going to impinge on personal property and rights of a person to make their own poor decisions. Yes, the child has a “right”, per se, to clean air. The parent is “impinging” on that right. But then again, the parent is also “impinging” on the right to healthy food by letting the kid have a Happy Meal. Hurting their ears by using foul language once in a while. Corrupting their brains with loud music.

My point is not to say that cigarette smoke is healthy for kids. It’s not. My point is that the government has no right to come into our personal spaces, our lives, and tell us what we can and can’t do. Next thing you know, they will be overseeing our snacks at snack time!  Oh wait—

Macey France

Oregon PolitiChick Macey France is co-founder of the Stop Common Core in Oregon and is working with parents across the state to educate and help them to learn how to advocate for their children's education. Macey has spoken at many Common Core informational meetings across the state of Oregon. Macey's articles on Common Core have been picked up by various news outlets and she has been a guest on many radio shows across the nation. Macey's article about The Bluest Eye was featured on a panel on Al Jazeera America and was nominated for a CPAC Blogger Award for Best Sunlight Post of 2013. Macey is a strong conservative with libertarian leanings, making her more of a "conservatarian." Preserving the constitutional and moral values of that this great nation was founded on for her children is her priority. She is a stay at home mom of two boys who are now in elementary school. As a mom who has always been interested in politics, religion and all of the taboo subjects, she has always had a lot to say about the state of the nation. When she realized the Common Core Standards were not only bad news for children but a government coup over education, she decided to fight back and is now considered one of the nation's leading experts on all-things-Common Core. When she's not having uncomfortable arguments with strangers on Facebook she can be found spending time with her husband of 15 years and two sons. Find Macey France on Facebook and Twitter: @MaceyFrancePC

Related Articles

Back to top button
Close
Close

Please disable ad blocker.

We work hard to write our articles and provide you with the content you enjoy. The ads on the site allow us to continue our work while feeding our families. If you'd please whitelist our site in your ad blocker or remove your ad blocker altogether, we'd greatly appreciate it. Thank you!