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Existing law requires, except as otherwise provided, a person who violates any provision of the code to be guilty of a misdemeanor with each offense punishable by a fine of not less than $25 or more than $1,000, or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding 6 months, or by both.
This bill would prohibit a food facility, as specified, where food may be consumed on the premises from providing single-use plastic straws to consumers unless requested by the consumer. By creating a new crime and imposing additional enforcement duties on local health agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180AB1884
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California Bill Proposes up to 6 Months Imprisonment for Unsolicited Plastic Straws
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BEWARE! People acting under the influence of human nature.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @08:13PM (22 children)
Looks like another case of ignorant hatred everybody!
So this is added to an existing broader law called California Retail Food Code. The violation of CRFC is punishable by $25 - $1000 OR imprisonment NOT EXCEEDING 6 months. Nothing like a click bait headline to get stupid commentary.
Other parts of the world have banned plastic straws, here is a story about the UK proposing such a ban UK straw ban [inews.co.uk]
Disposable plastic utensils / containers are a massive source of pollution, but anything that forces you to slightly change your previous expectations (Where's muh straw!!!) is horrifying nanny statism!@!@!!!! Pay no mind to the fact that straws are still available, just discouraged from being used.
(Score: 5, Funny) by nitehawk214 on Saturday January 27 2018, @08:30PM (4 children)
So, would you say this article is a... Straw Man attack?
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 2, Informative) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday January 27 2018, @09:24PM (1 child)
I'm almost 100% sure that Marty posted this story just so he could post the department.
It's kinda like how the people who formulated RED HORSE [wikipedia.org] really, really wanted it to be called "RED HORSE."
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Sunday January 28 2018, @12:05AM
I always love me a Backronyms. [wikipedia.org]
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 5, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Saturday January 27 2018, @11:18PM (1 child)
Shhhhhh - I'm working up to that. Every time I order a drink, I get that damned straw. I hate them, but I won't toss them out the window. I let them pile up on the floor on the passenger side of the car. After awhile, I unload them into the shed. The shed is almost full now. Did you know that straws are made of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen? And, in the proper ratios, those things are explosive? Yeah, I'm building the straw bomb for the straw man. They'll make a movie about me, after I'm famous. "The Great Straw Man Attack" I'm taking down all those fast food places that force straws upon you. When I'm finished, fast food managers will quiver in fear when they think of straws.
(Score: 2) by VanessaE on Sunday January 28 2018, @11:47AM
You know, that might actually make a great premise for a movie.... man starts collection of odd plastic items, then for unrelated reasons get fired, jailed (briefly), run out of town, or some other personal calamity. He snaps, vows revenge, and invents/builds some primitive reactor to turn his plastic trinkets and his in-car garbage (consisting of course mostly of plastic straws and reusable plastic cups) into bombs and fuel for same.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by julian on Saturday January 27 2018, @08:30PM (1 child)
It's just another case where the default settings can have a huge impact even if you still offer all the same choices. Most people just go with whatever is first presented to them, so that default behavior might as well align with our other values like reducing pollution. There are still straws if you really want one, but most people won't bother to ask.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @10:30PM
They could have just levied the plastic straws to a point where they're no longer economical. Around here, paper straws are increasingly common. The paper ones are just fine for most people as they're thrown out as soon as the beverage is finished.
And then just left the criminal charges for people trafficking in them for use in their restaurants.
For permanent, I've got a glass straw that works pretty well, but it's kind of a pain in that it has to be washed.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @09:06PM (1 child)
> imprisonment NOT EXCEEDING 6 months
while the clickbait summary stated "up to 6 months"
which is the same.
So what is your point?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @10:42PM
It's just another left coast loser defending another Governor Moonbeam loser law. He's probably such a tree hugging fruitcake that he gets a raging hardon every time he smells sawdust.
(Score: 2) by shortscreen on Saturday January 27 2018, @09:51PM (11 children)
No, this is the textbook definition of nanny statism (and pointing to the UK as an example doesn't help your case). You apparently just don't understand that not every feel-good idea should be enforced by fines, jail time, and men with guns.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @10:40PM (9 children)
Sure not everything should be, but this is a decent one. Of course it is nanny state, that is every single law ever so whatever.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday January 28 2018, @04:10AM (8 children)
Because straws are a really BIG deal. Alternately, they could just ignore plastic straws and the non-problem could stay a non-problem.
(Score: 1) by Crash on Sunday January 28 2018, @07:57AM
A few years ago now we switched to tempered glass straws; haven't purchased any plastic straws since.
It just takes a brief period of time to get used to the larger size and mouth feel.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 28 2018, @10:16AM (6 children)
This is not a non-problem. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jan/19/more-plastic-than-fish-in-the-sea-by-2050-warns-ellen-macarthur [theguardian.com]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Sunday January 28 2018, @11:27AM (5 children)
' So in other words, more than 90% of plastic waste in the ocean doesn't come from California or its plastic straws.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 28 2018, @12:36PM (1 child)
What do you think happens to Cali's plastic straws? They evaporate into the aether?
Most of the developed world packs up and ships out their plastic waste to asia and africa for "recycling". Which generally means getting dumped wherever there's space, because the government departments have been paid off, and so nobody's going to check whether the stuff is actually recycled at all.
Then it rains on the dumping site, and bits and bobs of plastic get washed along the same routes as all the water goes - into the rivers and down to the sea.
(Score: 3, Touché) by khallow on Sunday January 28 2018, @12:41PM
I think they end up in a landfill in California.
Ah, the blame the developed world game again. It's still not the developed world dumping this plastic, but the recipients in Asia and Africa.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 29 2018, @11:24AM (2 children)
Where do you think the Cali plastic comes from? Asia.
Plastic is manufactured from granules. The production standards in Asia are horrible and the pollution enormous. Then you have the shipping part where containers regularly fall off ships in storms and even entire ships sink spewing all their contents in the oceans.
You have to take into account the entire life cycle of a product to see its impact.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday January 29 2018, @03:26PM (1 child)
Didn't say otherwise.
And yet, this doesn't take into account who's putting plastic in the oceans or when.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 30 2018, @10:17PM
California is. All the time.
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Sunday January 28 2018, @01:35AM
No, you are just another person who doesn't know about or doesn't care about externalities.
(Score: 4, Touché) by janrinok on Sunday January 28 2018, @12:30PM
So the title is absolutely correct. I would consider a prison sentence as more severe than a fine, so the range of punishments is from $25 to 6 months prison time.