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
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
California Bill Proposes up to 6 Months Imprisonment for Unsolicited Plastic Straws
|
Log In/Create an Account
| Top
| 77 comments
| Search Discussion
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
(1)
(1)
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Sulla on Saturday January 27 2018, @07:58PM (24 children)
California everybody!
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(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.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Saturday January 27 2018, @11:31PM
I've thought about this for a bit. Read all the comments, and just thought. I think I can solve this problem.
Let's just make it a civil offense to live in California. Anyone found guilty of living in California should be sentenced to 'Life in California Without Possibility of Parole'. That should take care of it.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by bradley13 on Saturday January 27 2018, @07:59PM (17 children)
Talk about playing "mommy", even a fine is too much. But jail time? Seriously?
On the good side, this means that they have already solved all of California's other problems.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @08:02PM (7 children)
Talk about pissing off your base voters... I think I have met 1 RNC voter out of all the servers I have met.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @09:31PM (6 children)
Those who are should view a film and we'll see if they don't come away with broken hearts and changed attitudes.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is only 1 of 5 such giant trash heaps in Earth's oceans.
...and the bill's sponsor is Ian C. Calderon (D-Whittier).
Whittier is in Los Angeles County (very Blue; lots of tree huggers).
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @09:40PM (5 children)
Who cares? This doesn't justify jail time or insane fines for handing someone a straw.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @09:54PM (3 children)
The point is that it's not "a" straw, it's millions of straws.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @11:48PM (2 children)
The point is that such severe punishments should not even be on the table for something like this.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 28 2018, @05:47AM (1 child)
In a country where you pay millions for downloading 1's and 0's that punishment seems rather benign.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday January 28 2018, @11:28AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 28 2018, @12:29AM
$25 - $1000 OR jail time. So I presume most restaurants would be looking at a $25 fine. Repeated offenses would likely raise the fine each time. One might make a similar criticism about the health inspectors requiring businesses to post signs reminding employees to wash their hands, or any number of health code violations. Those make more common sense since food safety is a more common worry amongst people, and not many people worry about plastic pollution.
It becomes much more than "just a straw" when you have millions upon millions being used and thrown away every day.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday January 27 2018, @08:02PM (4 children)
California has only two problems, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The cure: nuclear strike or weaponized Anthrax. Or Ebola or Hantivirus, because I don't just want them dead...I want them to be shitting out their intestines and bleeding through their eyes while they die.
(Score: 2) by bradley13 on Saturday January 27 2018, @08:04PM
tell us how you really feel.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday January 27 2018, @08:25PM (2 children)
Only Two?
What about the Always Feculent San Diego, the People's Republic of Santa Monica, and Detroit of the west, Oakland?
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @08:39PM (1 child)
Oakland and San Francisco are basically the same problem, due to similarity and proximity. Nuke Gay Bay, and both Oakland and San Fran are solved.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday January 27 2018, @09:17PM
Totally different problems, but yes, one nuke solves both problems.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @11:37PM (1 child)
So you could land in jail indefinitely on a Three Straws Strike?
Tourists - head up! Beware having ANY plastic straws in your luggage, TSA will check!
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday January 28 2018, @08:12PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Saturday January 27 2018, @11:55PM
I hear the drought is over...
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by webnut77 on Sunday January 28 2018, @08:33AM
So they're going to feed and house these straw violators in prison for six months. What's that going to cost? $40,000 per violator? They might have to early parole the rapists and murderers to make room for these vermin.
(Score: 1) by tftp on Saturday January 27 2018, @07:59PM (8 children)
(Score: 5, Informative) by julian on Saturday January 27 2018, @08:37PM (7 children)
A single use straw is in contrast to the thicker plastic straws which can stand up to repeated washings in a dishwasher or sink without cracking or splitting. My water bottle has one and it's lasted for years. The plastic is thick, it doesn't bend easily. I doubt any restaurant will switch to those types of straws just so they can keep handing them out for free--and the law would probably still classify them as single-use because the container isn't reusable. I'm not sure about that, and I doubt it'll ever be tested in court.
It's simpler (and cheaper) to just not give out any straws unless asked. That's what will happen. We did something similar with plastic bags a few years ago.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Saturday January 27 2018, @09:20PM (6 children)
Paper straws are still permitted.
The problem is that a plastic straw is more likely to be recycled (and made out of recycled materials) than is a paper one.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Saturday January 27 2018, @10:16PM (5 children)
Paper straws? Don't think I have ever seen those. Don't they kind of have to be waxed or something to hold liquid or they'll be like one-suck-items. Don't think I have seen to many re-usable straws either, I seem to recall some made out of harder slightly thicker plastic but that was a long time ago. Not to mention I doubt McD (or the other fast food places ) will start with those and then have a little box for then where you put your tray back so that they can wash and reuse them.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @10:33PM (2 children)
They have paper straws here, they are waxed as far as I can tell, but only minimally so.
You don't generally see reusable straws at restaurants because then they'd have to be cleaned and sanitized, which is much more challenging than on other utensils due to the interior being closed off and rather narrow.
The disposable ones have the advantage of being factory sealed and in some restaurants if they open the straw for you, they'll leave the top covered with the wrapper.
At home, I've got a reusable glass straw which is rather nice. I've also got a cup that came with a plastic straw, which isn't as nice as it's narrower and harder to clean.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @10:50PM (1 child)
I think you mean crackpipe.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 28 2018, @12:33AM
Really? Insightful mod? Wackos
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @11:22PM (1 child)
I knew a one-suck girl once . . .
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Sunday January 28 2018, @01:06AM
Wow, Johnny cum early, huh quick draw....
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday January 27 2018, @08:00PM (3 children)
Can North Korea please fucking nuke L.A. and San Francisco already? This is almost as bad as legalizing knowingly infecting somebody with HIV and not disclosing your status.
Take heed, other states of the Union: California is what happens when the Jews run your state.
Boy, if only all those idiots who wanted to move here saw how widespread the homeless camp problem is. The worst part is that here in San Diego the cops are being told to back off from harassing and shooing-on the exploding population of homeless so now even the nice neighborhoods are riddled with trash, needles, crackpipes, and bum bundles abandoned roadside.
This state is seriously a fucking joke. "Affordable housing?" Nah, not while there's money to be made, and the Jews are the ones making it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @09:20PM (2 children)
But, you didn't ask if I was HIV positive, and I didn't want to run afoul of the law by volunteering unsolicited information.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday January 27 2018, @09:39PM (1 child)
I doubt that personal contacts are subject to HIPAA regulations.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @11:26PM
And, I doubt that you'll get a second date. Why are you so prejudiced against us, anyway? You're as bad as God is, for creating AIDS to kill gays off!
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @08:46PM
What if someone uses an "unsolicited plastic straw" to blow an infection [nbcnews.com] up someone elses ass? Would that be a total of 12 months in prison? What if the perpetrator was to apologise for the straw but not for deliberately transmitting a life threatening infection to someone? Just 6 months then?
What about if an illegal immigrant finds a straw and (without solicitation) stabs it through someone's eyeball, penetrating their brain and resulting in their death? Aquittal? [cnn.com]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Entropy on Saturday January 27 2018, @09:54PM (3 children)
So giving someone AIDS isn't a crime, but giving them a plastic straw is? It's sad that at times(gas cans) people use California as an example to emulate, rathern than an example of what to do the opposite of.
(Score: 4, Informative) by shortscreen on Saturday January 27 2018, @09:57PM (1 child)
Actually, spreading HIV intentionally was lowered to a misdemeanor, so including a straw in their happy meal would be the same as that.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday January 29 2018, @05:23PM
That is all kinds of messed up.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Sunday January 28 2018, @12:32AM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_transmission_of_HIV_in_the_United_States [wikipedia.org]
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 3, Funny) by meustrus on Saturday January 27 2018, @10:23PM (1 child)
Nanny state or not, if this means the server will stop giving me a new straw for every single refill after seeing me take each one out of the glass, I might have to move back to California.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Saturday January 27 2018, @11:50PM
That's one of the great things about California [ca.gov], though (second bullet point at the top of that page).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @10:37PM (7 children)
In 1965, the California Penal Code had about 234,000 words. I actually got some people to count them. Today that number has grown to 1.2 million. By comparison, the Ten Commandments run just under 300 words -- and the Ten Commandments, there are still ten.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday January 27 2018, @11:13PM (1 child)
Jerry Brown is not a stoner, but a Jesuit. And, as Tom Clancy told us all, there is no such thing as a "stupid Jesuit."
Which leads into this: Catholics, reign in your Globalist Soroist Pope and restore your church into a respectable organization which espouses beliefs congruent towards the Vatican II.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday January 27 2018, @11:29PM
Congruent? The opposite of which would be - in congress? Food for thought, huh?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 28 2018, @12:31AM
The amount of laws has certainly become ridiculous, as well as impossible to follow. On the other hand, since 1965, there have been quite a few new developments, which sometimes require new laws. For example, you might have heard of this "internet" thing.
Not to mention that your "Ten Commandments" quip is completely idiotic... Even putting aside the entire "separation of church and state" aspect, the Commandments may only be useful as a general moral compass, they're not much of a legal code. Not only in decadent California either; ever heard of the Biblical law? [wikipedia.org] By the time of Jesus, the "law" is already several orders of magnitude larger than the Ten Commandments. The Commandments are also quite silent on minor things like DUI, building codes, copyright and trademarks, contract law, healthcare, and a few other things.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 28 2018, @02:16AM (3 children)
There may be ten, as you say, but they're not always the same ten. The list varies depending on where in the source book you look and on which edition of the book you're using as reference.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday January 28 2018, @02:24AM (1 child)
Modded up...but as a general rule, the kind of person who thinks the ten commandments ought to be the law of the land is not well-read in his own scriptures enough to know what you pointed out :)
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 28 2018, @10:29AM
should move to saudi fucking arabia to experience first hand a theocrazy
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday January 28 2018, @08:59PM
Sometimes they aren't even ten, it all depends on how you count ambiguously punctuated lists. Some renderings could be 8, others could be 13. And is "I am the Lord your God" a commandment or merely a pronouncement?
And they're a lousy set of rules anyway - everyone misinterprets them! "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" definitely doesn't mean "I must be your only god" and doesn't even mean "I must be your most important god". The word translated as "before" literally means "in front", physically placed in front - so the commandment means "don't bring any references - visual, spoken, or thought - into other gods into temples built for me".
They're lousy for other reasons too - it's a bit wishy washy on rape for instance - looks like that's allowed, as I don't see it being forbidden (this is clarified later in the book fortunately, rape's not just OK, it's an order!). Ditto slavery, that looks fine. Maiming not being banned helps in maintaining the slavery. Fraud, defamation, and shitting on your neighbour doorstep - they're all cool too.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Maddog on Saturday January 27 2018, @11:36PM (5 children)
Our local zoo has paper straws and cups (to protect the animals). I get the reasoning, but they suck (pun intended). Once the liquid gets past the wax barrier the straws break down and collapse.
It is basically a built-in expiration timer for your drink.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @11:50PM
I wonder if that's how inkjet cartridges work.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by HiThere on Sunday January 28 2018, @12:07AM (3 children)
If the paper straws don't work, then someone's doing something wrong. All the time I was growing up paper straws were the only straws we used, and there weren't that many problems with them.
OTOH, they do have different use characteristics. My wife used to use both kinds to make musical instruments (poor ones, for demonstration of principles only). She used the paper straws to make double reed instruments and plastic straws to make double reed ones (with part of the straw acting as the reed). She swore that for either purpose only one kind of straw would work. When the Sweetheart paper straw company closed out making paper straws, she bought up all their remaining inventory. (Well, that was excessive, and now I've got many boxes of paper straws to deal with. But she was afraid of running out.)
So one of the possibilities is that the new paper straws are made by some company that either doesn't know or doesn't care how to make a proper paper straw. The other is that you need to learn how to use one. Since I no longer drink things that come with a straw, I can't offer an informed estimate. (I don't use a straw with either water or coffee, and I take my coffee black, so I can't even comment on common coffee stirring sticks.)
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by HiThere on Sunday January 28 2018, @12:11AM
Aaaargh! Correction: She used plastic straws to make single reed instruments, and paper straws to make double reed instruments.
She used to demonstrate the purpose of finger holes by making an instrument out of a whole straw, and then cutting it off at the appropriate places to produce a scale going up...and then talk about the difficulty in then going down the scale.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday January 28 2018, @09:14PM (1 child)
That's a lot of contraband you're sitting on, mate - would be a shame if the authorities found out, if you know what I mean. 50 notes in a brown paper envelope behind the cistern on the leftmost stall of the loos beside platform 9 of St. Pancras station before tomorrow night. Or else.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Monday January 29 2018, @06:15AM
???
I assume your comment made some sense to you, if only as a joke, but it doesn't make any sense to me.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.