Why aren’t kids arrested for smoking?
Are communities serious about cutting down on teen smoking? Teens get arrested for drinking all the time, AND If they were thrown in jail fro smoking on the street or having smokes in their purse, and their parents had to come downtown, and face a judge, I bet the smoking would almost stop. I see so many kids loitering around schools, malls, etc, possessing and using tobacco.If they were standing on the street guzzling a bottle of tequlia, we would not condone that. Currently most laws just forbid the SELLING of tobacco, but not the USE. While it’s illegal to POSSESS alcohol, and teens can get arrested for it, they could do the same thing for teens in possession of cigarettes. It seems that most cities and states are not serious about cutting down on teen smoking. It seems strange that police can drive right by a group of kids lighting up outside the school, but if they have a beer in their hand, they get arrested. I’m not against smoking, just teen smoking. I think adults can decide for themselves what they want to do with any drug, and it should not be against the law. But if local communities want kids to stop smoking, they need to make it against the law to do so.
I’m 17 ad I live in Italy. Last week I was smoking on the street with my friends (they were not smoking). A cop passing by approached me and politely told me that a minor should not smoke. So he handcuffed me and arrested me. I ended up spending 3 days in jail. But I still smoke, only not on streets. It’s useless, I think…jail’s not the way to force teens to quit smoking.
I aggree with you about that. As A libertarian i do not condemn drug use or tobacco use,. My point is That the laws HERE are selectively enforced,.
The cops already have too much on their plate to deal with already, than worrying about smoking kids. Smoking kids don’t get behind the wheel of a car and kill or mame someone in an accident!….. With budget cuts being what they are since the scumbag Banker’s n Oilmen ran the country into a recession. There’s very little money anyway. What money is out there is better spent on “Prevention Programs” anyway……Not to mention money spent on juvenilles in the legal system, should help those youths suffering from neurological and phycological probems first. Rather than shipping these poor kids off to jail instead of treatment.