In a stroke of brilliance, BCPD officers have been shunning bar patrons standing outside of bars for loitering, expressing to them that they need to stay 150 ft away from the zone they are being offensive to, namely the bar they are patronizing. In an unshocking display of ignorance, the police don’t know how to deal with a law passed that directly conflicts with a preexisting one.

Here’s a novel idea – use judgment. If the patrons are being peaceful and have oh I don’t know, a cigarette in their hand, why not just say “oh they must be having a cigarette and not loitering” and move on. Last time I checked it’s pretty easy to distinguish between a prostitute and a group of people smoking cigarettes. Christ I can’t believe I have to even type this shit.

Tomorrow is the last day anyone in Baltimore will be able to smoke inside of a bar. John Woestendiek wrote an article in the Baltimore Sun (link expired) on the matter that I personally thought was really well written and accurately expresses something of a heartfelt loss of the human experience. But then, I made the mistake of reading the comments section.

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