Gone East

Contraband Candy Bowls

International Herald Tribune:

As some New Yorkers have learned the hard way, the mere existence of an ashtray in a place where smoking is prohibited can lead to a summons. It doesn't matter if the ashtray is stored well away from public areas. It doesn't matter if it is used as a decoration, or to hold paper clips or M&M's. No ashtrays are allowed, period.

I think this way of enforcing the no smoking laws is pretty silly. But here's the paragraph that bothered me the most.

"I think what I was most appalled about," [said one person caught with ashtrays], "was the constitutionality of [The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene] being able to come in and search my office. Unlike the police, they don't need a search warrant. They just walked in on an anonymous tip."

[If you have trouble with the fancy way IHT displays its stories, here's a version that is simpler.]

Posted by jghiii at December 2, 2003 01:15 PM