Muskingum County, Ohio Sheriff Matt Lutz is again reminding citizens that two years ago the state actually had to pass a bill making it illegal to consume alcohol and light off fireworks because so many people were blowing themselves up while shitfaced, the Zanesville Times Recorder reports.
“People get careless, and they start mixing things with alcohol,” said Lutz, adding that his office spends too much time on the Fourth of July responding to drunkenly botched use of celebratory explosives. “You have to know what you’re doing. A lot of it comes down to common sense.”
Lutz said the most common issues his deputies respond to during the Fourth of July are hand injuries from patriots holding them and they go off too soon, property damage from people firing projectiles too close to homes, debris from aerial fireworks landing in nearby pools and causing damage, or injuries from people aiming and shooting fireworks at each other. The 2022 Ohio fireworks law makes lighting them off while intoxicated a first-degree misdemeanor. Among other provisions, the law prohibits launching fireworks at another person and discharging them indoors.