This is What Happens When Governments Have Nothing Better to Do...

The city of Santa Barbara in California, having conquered all other municipal issues, has decided to literally criminalize the handing out of plastic straws at restaurants. I'm not even kidding.

Here's a copy of the bill that was passed:

https://records.santabarbaraca.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Documents/ViewDocument/Attachment%202%20-%20ORDINANCE.pdf?meetingId=375&documentType=Agenda&itemId=11697&publishId=6263&isSection=false

If you look on page 5 under Section 9.165.060 for penalties it says:

A.
For the first violation, upon a determination that a violation of this chapter has occurred, city shall issue a written warning notice to the beverage provider or food provider which will specify the violation and the appropriate penalties in the event of future violations.
B.
Thereafter, any person violating or failing to comply with any of the requirements of this chapter shall be subject to remedies specified pursuant to Chapters 1.25 and 1.28 of this code.

So I got to wondering, what are Chapters 1.25 and 1.28 of the Santa Barbara code?

https://www.santabarbaraca.gov/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=12153

Chapter 1.25 starts on page 8 of the pdf. It's about administrative fines. OK, I can understand how that would go with this crazy bill.

But Chapter 1.28 (page 14) is about penalties for misdemeanors. It's worth a read.

So Santa Barbara is threating people selling or distributing plastic straws with 1,000 USD and 6 months in jail per straw all in the name of good government.

This is fucking insanity.

And all of this is to protect the environment. They are very concerned about straws making their way out into the ocean and not biodegrading. Of course, if they really cared about things being flushed out into the ocean they could create a waste management system that didn't involve... you know... flushing things out into the ocean.

By all accounts Santa Barbara is actually a pretty nice place to live. So I guess all other problems in the city have been solved and they are down to the last straw.