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evilteabagger:

Woman Faces Potential 5 Years in Prison for Providing Teeth Whitening Services Without License

Lisa Martinez was forced to shut down her businesses or face five years in prison.   Her crime?   Teeth whitening.

In 2008, Lisa opened Connecticut White Smile in the Crystal Mall in Waterford, Conn., where she sold an over-the-counter whitening product and provided a clean, comfortable place for customers to apply the product to their own teeth, just as they would at home.

As it turns out, teeth-whitening services are popular and increasingly available at spas, salons and shopping malls all across the country. People are so eager to use these services because they provide great results at a fraction of the cost that dentists charge.

Unfortunately, as happens all too often, happy customers + happy entrepreneurs = unhappy special interests.

In June, the Connecticut Dental Commission decided to clamp down on teeth whitening.  The commission ruled that offering teeth-whitening services is a crime punishable by up to five years in prison or $25,000 in civil penalties for anyone but a licensed dentist.

The ruling even applies to businesses like Lisa’s Connecticut Smile White, where customers apply the product to their own teeth.  Some people may be wondering:  What’s the difference between whitening my teeth at home with a product I buy online and whitening my teeth at a shopping mall or salon with an identical product? Remarkably, in Connecticut the difference is that the shopping mall and salon entrepreneurs can be thrown in prison for five years.

Yet another reason I am not a fan of big bureaucratic government.

(Source: biggovernment.com)