Baltimore, a city so crime-ridden that HBO has a dramatic series based there, is definitely looking out for its citizens' safety. You of course are thinking they just hired some great police chief known for turning around cities with bad crime problems, or maybe they elected Rudy Giuliani as mayor, or maybe they've beefed up the police force. Nope, they've handed out their first ticket for dangerous butter. The city banned trans fats in amounts over 0.5 grams in non-prepackaged foods in 2009. The particular offender had been using a margarine with 3 grams of trans fats when it first came to the attention of the city that they were utilizing this margarine to murder and rob its citizens. When the city followed up on this dangerously aggressive murderous activity, they found that the offender had raped dozens, if not hundreds of citizens with its replacement 2 gram trans fat margarine. Remember that "slippery slope" argument that everyone guffawed at that when government becomes involved in running health care they become involved in every part of the citizenry's lives? I give you the Baltimore nanny state.
By the way, the ban on trans fats came into effect September 2009. According to the Baltimore police, in the first three months of 2010 there were 41 murders, 29 forcible rapes, 690 robberies, and 1,130 aggravated assaults. This is by no means an exhaustive list of the crimes and there is a separate category of "violent crimes" that is undefined, so I didn't give the number. This is just in a city, mind you, not a state. Assuming the statistic cited in the article of 30,000 deaths per year nation-wide attributable to trans fats (which is something that doesn't appear on coroner's cause of death options) is correct I think the city has bigger problems than making sure you don't enjoy your meal. The priorities of government are upside down from reality.
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