Weird Smoking Laws

We’re all well aware of the fact that today smoking is not permitted in any public building. Likewise, smoking is banned even in outdoor gatherings in many places. Most of these non-smoking laws are sane and sensible pieces of legislation that are designed to protect the public health….but……and as you might imagine….the weird is always with us in some form. Non-smoking laws aren’t the exception. Read on.

In New Orleans, Louisiana, where practically everything is legal, it is against the law for anyone who is participating in carnival or a parade to smoke. Not only that but every float entered in a parade must have a highly visible “No Smoking” sign attached to it.

In Illinois in the little town of Zion, persons are not allowed to give lighted cigars to domesticated animals. The law actually names dogs and cats but the wording seems to include hamsters, gerbils and goldfish as well. So…no matter how much your goldfish begs for a cigar, it is illegal for you to give him one.

New Jersey is, of course, famous for going the extra mile. While you expect to see “Do not Feed the Animals” signs, in New Jersey zoos, you’ll also find signs that tell you not to give cigars, cigarettes or whiskey to the animals. Hmmm….since only whiskey isn’t allowed, maybe it would be okay to give a hippo a cold beer.

In New Port, Rhode Island, it’s perfectly legal to smoke a pipe but only during daylight hours. It’s illegal to smoke a pipe after sunset. Go figure.

In a little town in Missouri, teenagers can buy loose tobacco and rolling paper but they cannot buy a cigarette lighter. Aw, geez….and matches are SO hard to come by!

People are funny. Laws are written by people so, it stands to reason that we get some funny (off the wall….weird) laws.