Smoker's rejoice! Starting August 4, you won't be forced to buy a lighter every single time you get off a plane just to get your nic fix. When I used to smoke cigarettes the first thing I did after getting off the plane was un out the door to huff a butt. Even though I quit a few years ago (best decision I ever made, by the way), this is good policy.
Especially when you read this article and hear the comments from Kip Hawley, assistant secretary for the Transportation Security Administration:
...the ban had done little to improve aviation security because small batteries could be used to set off a bomb...“Taking lighters away is security theater,” Mr. Hawley said. “It trivializes the security process.”
So he pretty much comes out and says that his agency has been wasting time searching passengers and their carry-on bags for lighters instead of looking for things that can cause real damage, like bombs.
But here is the kicker in the article, the one thing--hell, the one line--that really pisses me off:
Disposing of the seized lighters has cost about $4 million a year.
Four million dollars?!?! For a plan that is an admitted waste of time, money, energt and manpower? You have to be kidding me...
Here are some extremely interesting facts abourt the lighter ban, all of them taken directly from the TSA's page on new policies.
- The U.S. is the only country in the world to ban lighters – all other nations, including Israel and the U.K., do not.
- 22,000 lighters are confiscated by TSA staff every day.
- In 2006, 1,607,104 knives and blades were surrendered by passengers to TSA staff. There were 11,616,217 lighters surrendered
Also of note, a mother can now carry breast milk through security with or without her child present, though I don't know why a woman would be transporting breastmilk if a child is not there to drink it.
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