Council To Consider Novelty Lighter Ban

The Louisville Metro Council will vote this week on an ordinance that would ban the sale of novelty lighters.The ordinance unanimously passed the bipartisan public safety committee last week and the sponsor Mary Woolridge expects it to pass the full council Thursday.Woolridge says she proposed the ordinance because the uniquely-shaped cigarette lighters often appeal to children."Anybody would think they were a toy. I would think it was a toy, no doubt you would too because that's what they look like," she says. "They have sounds, they have lights, they're just as cute as they can be, but they're dangerous, they're hazardous and we just need to ban them."A similar ban has also been introduced in the Kentucky General Assembly. Several other cities and states have made the sale of novelty lighters illegal. Opponents say this is a matter that should be handled by parents and not the government.