Flagler County has gone too far with nicotine testing for government employees.

The Board of County Commissioners in Florida’s Flagler County has decided that its employees shouldn’t be smoking.

It wants to test people for nicotine for the purpose of saving money on health insurance.

Once again, the government has shown its true colors, the colors of a nanny state. Slowly, citizens are having their rights taken away and even legal activities are being targeted.

The issue is the idea of nicotine testing. Last time I checked, it was legal to smoke cigarettes in the whole country, with the exception of a few public places like Santa Monica State Beach.

However, the Flagler City Council has decided that smoking shouldn’t be allowed at all and nicotine testing should be done in order to enforce its views.

Those employees who fail to pass the test will be fired and barred from applying for a government job again.

The county says that it’s a “smart business decision” because it will save money on health insurance.

If the government started spending wisely, maybe smokers wouldn’t be preyed upon by self-righteous anti-smokers.

Time and money should be better spent on more important issues.

Nicotine testing shouldn’t be a hot topic, especially when it concerns smoking which is a legal activity for those over 18.

The victims of this whole mess are the government employees who are people that work hard and have families to support.

This country was built upon the tobacco crop; it has never been made illegal because of that.

Nicotine testing could lead to even more outrageous things and who knows, maybe the government will start weighing people and firing those whose weight is not at a “healthy” level.