Putting the F in Florida

Every state passes dumb laws all the time. And
then there's
Florida:

A python prohibition, bong ban, horse thievery crackdown and
no-limit poker games are included in some of about 140 new laws
going on the books Thursday in Florida along with the state's new
$70.4 billion budget. [...]

New criminal laws will require background checks of youth sports
coaches, mandate tracking of over-the-counter sales of ephedrine,
which can be used to make methamphetamine, and lift statutes of
limitation in criminal and civil sex abuse cases involving
minors.

Other new laws will set safety standards for tomatoes in the
wake of a false salmonella scare and make it harder to win
slip-and-fall lawsuits against businesses.

Some great legislator quotes:

"We don't need any more snakes, especially ones that can grow
over 20 feet long, weigh hundreds of pounds and eat almost anything
they encounter," said the law's sponsor, Sen. Eleanor Sobel,
D-Hollywood. [...]

"In the Old West, they used to hang horse thieves," said state
Rep. Luis Garcia, a Miami Democrat who sponsored the law. "We no
longer practice vigilante justice, nor am I advocating as such, but
I will not sit back any longer and let this horrendous crime of
illegal horse slaughter continue."

Link via the Twitter feed of former Reason intern and
eternal Floridian Mike
Riggs.

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