Weird PNW Laws
In this article, Kayla Newman goes some of the weird laws in The Pacific Northwest (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington).
Weird Laws in The Pacific northwest
By Kayla Newman
America is the home of the free and weird and out-of-date laws that make people wonder about the sanity of state legislatures. However, making an article listing the weird and unusual laws of all 50 states would take too much time and willpower. Instead, here are some of the wacky laws in our very own Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska).
Alaska
Alaska just needs to leave its mammals with anger issues alone. Just because they look big and fluffy does not mean people should: A, throw moose out of planes or helicopters; B, give them alcohol; or C, wake them up for the perfect photo opportunity. Liner Laws, a small law firm wrote, “City officials in Fairbanks, Alaska, have made it illegal to give alcoholic drinks to a moose.” The law passed because a local tavern owner kept giving his pet moose alcohol. This resulted in the moose having “drunken rampages.”
Tourists are not very bright in the head and tend to lack survival skills when traveling. Due to this fact, Alaska had to pass a law to prevent people from waking sleeping bears to take pictures. How many people thought it was a good idea to wake a sleeping bear that they had to pass this law?
In 2009, PETA started a campaign in Talkeetna, Alaska, to stop them from dropping moose from helicopters. How noble of PETA for protecting the steroid elks from a brutal hypothetical death. The citizens of Talkeetna were confused about PETA’s campaign. They were not dropping moose from helicopters-- just their painted and numbered poop. For years, the citizens of Talkeetna have been doing this as a fun little activity to see who could hit a set target. After much debate, dropping anything belonging to a moose (including the moose itself) was banned.
Idaho
Idaho is terrifying. They are the only state in all of America that goes in-depth on its law about cannibalism. Overall, it is illegal-- unless it is a life or death situation and the other person consents. Idaho, also known as the home of all things potato, has laws involving brown dirt-loving vegetables. According to Listen Boise, a radio station in Boise Idaho, “selling an ‘Idaho Deluxe’ potato with rot, blemishes, or sun damage can get you sent to jail for up to six months.” Idaho has a reputation to uphold– and selling substandard “Idaho Deluxe'' is just dirtying that name.
Oregon
Laws in Oregon are mostly pretty mild and not very shocking. However, in Yamhill, practicing the “occult arts” is banned. Yamhill Municipal code 5.08.110 defines occult arts as “the use or practice of fortune telling, astrology, phrenology, palmistry, clairvoyance, mesmerism, spiritualism, or any other practice or practices generally recognized to be unsound and unscientific.” The fact that this is unconstitutional and still exists truly makes people wonder if people in Yamhill are okay and need therapists-- oh wait, analyzing people is also illegal.
Washington
Washington, if they could, they would make Bigfoot their state animal; instead, it is some groundhog knockoff (Olympic Marmot) that can only be found in Washington. According to The Law Dictionary, a dictionary that provides law terminology for free, “killing Bigfoot was a felony at one point and punishable by five years in prison.” Later, the law was amended. Now, in Washington, Bigfoot is considered an endangered species. This makes the mystical Bigfoot protected under Washington’s wildlife laws and, thus, killing or trapping the hairy-giant-man-like ape is illegal– which is rightfully deserved, as he is the best hide-and-seek master of all time.
Looking through all the laws and what was banned makes people wonder if these people are sane or not. At this point, it would be smarter to light this government on fire and start anew.
