OneKnoxFamily

1 Week ago today, Tennessee began a cigarette surveillance program where it’s now a crime to purchase more than two cartons of cigs out of state and bring them back into Tennessee.  What?

Okay, here’s the deal. Here at OneKnoxFamily we hate cigarettes.  Cigarette smoke is one of the nastiest things, it stinks and it kills.  That being said though, I totally disagree with this new program.  I don’t think it should be illegal to purchase a legal item across state lines.  What’s up with that?!

Here’s how it works

The program calls for a monitoring agent to spot people in cars with Tennessee license plates who buy more than two cartons of cigarettes outside the state. The monitoring agent then calls an arresting agent, who stops the motorist when he or she drives inside the Tennessee border.

Don’t think it’s that big of a deal… check out the punishments…

Under state law, bringing more than two cartons of cigarettes into the state without paying Tennessee taxes is a “Class B” misdemeanor, carrying punishment of up to six months in jail and/or a $500 fine. Bringing 25 or more cartons is a “Class E” felony, with minimum penalty of one year in prison and a maximum of six years plus a fine of up to $3,000.

Ridiculous!

What’s not ridiculous though is another new law that just went into effect Oct. 1.  A statewide smoking ban, ‘Tennessee’s nonsmokers protection act’, that prevents people from smoking in public restaurants, businesses and government facilities.  Finally!  Now we don’t have to walk through the fog to get to our non-smoking seats — that were 15 feet from the smoking section.

Violators are subject to fines and you can report them through the Department of Health’s website.

More here and here