Smoking Linked to Crime

Health nannies in Washington state find themselves unprepared for a pro-smoking insurgency, grown desperate in its last throes:

Organizers of an anti-smoking initiative were still picking up shattered glass from their Green Lake headquarters yesterday, one day after they discovered the weekend theft of petitions bearing about 1,000 signatures.

The theft and a similar break-in at a signature-gathering company in Lacey, Thurston County, come less than two weeks before the organization's July 8 deadline to turn in the roughly 225,000 signatures necessary to put the initiative on the November general-election ballot.

Whole thing here.

Comments

chthus | June 30, 2005, 10:21am | #

Can't they determine who the culprits were by running DNA analysis on the dozens of stinky cigarette butts they surely left behind?

Of course, this may require all who purchase cigarettes to register their DNA, in case of a future misplaced butt, but that's not more than a few years away right?

Mr. Nice Guy | June 30, 2005, 10:23am | #

What they need to do is dragnet the entire city, box in the perps, and then smoke them out.

JohnnyWalters | June 30, 2005, 10:24am | #

Yet another link in the chain of proof that drug use leads to crime.

This message brought to you by the Drug Czar and the ONDCP.

freedom4all | June 30, 2005, 10:25am | #

All life deserves freedom, even cancer cells.

Mr. Nice Guy | June 30, 2005, 10:29am | #

Is G. Gorden Liddy involved in this?

mediageek | June 30, 2005, 10:47am | #

[Nelson Muntz] HA! HA![/Nelson Muntz]

mk | June 30, 2005, 11:08am | #

Has anyone asked Christopher Hitchens what he was doing that evening? I mean, the guy is an admitted criminal after all.

The Owner's Manual | June 30, 2005, 11:36am | #

Hmmm. Theft is to insurgency as terrorist is to freedom fighter. There's nothing hollower than unprincipled libertarianism.

matt | June 30, 2005, 11:53am | #

From the article:

"The initiative would expand the statewide Clean Indoor Air Act to prohibit smoking not only in all public buildings and vehicles, but also in privately owned restaurants, bars and places of work."

Maybe it was a property owner who didn't feel like having other people tell him what to do. Nothing else was stolen in the break in. Can't say that it really bothers me.

jake | June 30, 2005, 1:01pm | #

Reminds me of "The Boston Tea Party". Let the Revolution begin.

Brett | June 30, 2005, 1:22pm | #

This made me think of the Mary Kay Commandos from Bloom County.

NoStar | June 30, 2005, 1:43pm | #

Seattle is becoming the Mecca for vote and election tampering. Stealing initiative petitions is a pre-emptive strike that prevents the liberals from adding votes after the election.

When the game is crooked to begin with, you're a fool if you don't cheat.

sage | June 30, 2005, 2:55pm | #

"When the game is crooked to begin with, you're a fool if you don't cheat."

That's gold. I think I may have that engraved on my headstone.

Jim Walsh | June 30, 2005, 3:07pm | #

Anyone can quit smoking; it takes a man to face cancer."

-Martin Mull

joe | June 30, 2005, 6:32pm | #

Just so you know, cheering this vandalism while calling the ELF and ALF "terrorists" doesn't make you a disgusting hypocrite.

At all.

Ignorant Law Student | June 30, 2005, 7:32pm | #

A hypocrite, sure. But possibly not "disgusting." There's no intimidation here, nor serious property damage. If all ELF did was steal purchase orders from meat-packing plants so they wouldn't be filled, that would be about the same thing.

Still illegal, and not nice, but not horrific.

Non-Smoker in WA | June 30, 2005, 9:29pm | #

At least you don't have to hear (presumably) radio ads...

Championing the workers at bars and restaurants. Citing a "20%" majority contolling the "places you want to go." One about concerts stating "More Rock! Less Smoke! More Love! Less Hate!"

Makes me want to start smoking just to get back at these jackasses.

Before anyone can say so...yes, I know it's for the children...