Alcohol Problem

I have been thinking about this and have read quite a bit about the subject and I came to the conclusion that Alcohol should be illegal to make, sell, or use. My reasons are these.

Our government has taken a very obvious stance that it is its job to protect its population from things that are harmful (and even some things that aren't very harmful). It has taken the stance that peoples judgment is not enough when it comes to what we should and shouldnt take or do. At one time in our countrys history, there were no laws prohibiting any intoxicants, people just took what they want and we left it up to them to do it responsibly. Then prohibition came along. We think about prohibition as being the 18th amendment and the banning of alcohol but it start a bit before that. 100 year after the founding of our country, San Francisco passed a ordinance banning the use of opium (because the Chinese were selling it to whites). Most prohibition laws began early last century.

the pure food and drug act of 1906 (a very good thing IMO) didn't ban anything but force the makers of food and drugs to clearly state what was in their product. This made people aware of what they were taking and eating, it informed the populace so they could make an informed choice.

Then came the Harrison narcotics act which made it illegal to deal in or use any opiate and cocaine...one big reason for this act was fear of the Chinese who dealt opium and the Negros who took cocaine...a few quotes from that hearing:

"If the Chinaman cannot get along without his dope we can get along without him".

Negroes in the South are reported as being addicted to a new form of vice – that of 'cocaine sniffing' or the 'coke habit.'" Some newspapers later claimed cocaine use caused blacks to rape white women...or the well known 'cocaine crazed negro'

"cocaine is often the direct incentive to the crime of rape by the Negroes of the South and other sections of the country,"

"one of the most unfortunate phases of smoking opium in this country is the large number of women who have become involved and were living as common-law wives or cohabitating with Chinese in the Chinatowns of our various cities"

most of these quotes are from the medical professional by the name of Dr. Hamilton Wright who testified to congressional leaders. (also the new Opium Commissioner).

So this scared people a lot and the Harrison act passed with little problem.

Later we have the Marijuana Tax act which essential banned marijuana, much of the same issues were brought up during this time...It caused people to murder, go insane, rape, Mexicans used it, etc...etc...

so marijuana was banned with little problem...These laws didn't affect most people so they passed with little problem and people did not see this as the government taking away any rights...even when these laws prompted the creation of large enforcment agencies funded on their tax money and laws that gave them to right to arrest and confiscate all they owned.

Then you have the final blow in the form of the controlled substances act which set up the current scheduling system for all drugs being used and gave the government a way to easily ban any future drugs that people might want to use. The DEA (a large enforcement agency with military training whose whole existence and budget depends on them having people to bust) was set as the judge for what should be scheduled The only drug that was not included was alcohol.

With he 18th amendment alcohol was banned in 1919. Logically people saw that alcohol was dangerous and in all honesty it was the #1 objective of prohibitionist to ban booze...all the other drugs they banned needed banning but alcohol was, in their minds, the worst of the lot. This now made people who made alcohol drug manufactures, those who sell it traffickers and drug dealers, and those who used it drug users.

This law lasted a little over a decade...the problem I see is that it made all the wrong people criminals...so many people liked to drink from the cop, the politician, the businessman, the sanitation worker...and it made brewers and bar owners criminals if they continued...and this suggested that their families were doing something wrong when they ran the family bar or resrant or brewery or just drank, the government just had not gotten around to punishing them until now...not to mention it was, like any other drug, peddled by organized crime, no tax revenue for the US and 100% profit to the drug lords.

So it seems that we gave up the good fight and repealed it in 1933...I ask this one question...why?
1. Alcohol is a powerful intoxicant. If you take too much you can poison yourself and die.
2. Alcohol is highly addictive as attested to by the millions who have sought help for that addiction.
3. Alcohol causes severe impairment to motor functions and judgment of the user. This means they will often do things they would not have done otherwise to the detriment of all around them. Beat their wife, drive and kill others, violence.
4. Because of #3 alcohol has been and continued to be a source for many societal ills.
5. Alcohol and the prolonged use of it will cause all kinds of permenant health problems.

All of these are reasons why the DEA would decide to schedule a drug into the most restrictive category yet it continues to be sold in most corner stores, liquor stores, grocery stores, restaurants, bars, etc...and still millions of people do it. People die everyday and lives are ruined. They are not ruined by the law like many who use other substances like marijuana, being label a criminal, locked away, or denied jobs...being mariginalize. They are just ruined by the sheer addictive and damaging aspects of the drug itself.

Now in most cases the government would schedule such a drug that is so harmful and causes so many problems, they would not allow its citizens to use their own judgment, inform them of the dangers, and regulate it. They DO take this stance with booze. It remains legal, it is regulated, taxed and they inform us of the dangers of using it, how it is addictive and how we should not drive on it. Drink repsonsibly they tell us. Yet still MANY disregard these warnings.

Alcohol in many ways is far stronger of an intoxicant that other drugs that are banned. For instance a person cannot overdose on marijuana no matter how much they smoke, its effects are far less profound, yet the government has decided we should not use it, they do not regulate it, advise of us any dangers then arrest us IF we do something wrong because of it...they just ban it.

Honestly, how many horror stories have you heard regarding pot, how many bums on the street are begging money for a joint? and not booze.

So IMO, we need to ban booze all together. People cannot be trusted to use it and like all other drugs...just because some people can use it responsibly, it matters little. It needs to be banned to protect us on the roads, protect women and children from drunk husbands and fathers, to protect us from our follow man. Those people who are able to drink responsibly will just have to stop for the good and safety of all. Like we banned all the other intoxicants because some could not use them responsibly, so too should we ban one of the hardest intoxicants because of those MANY who cannot do it responsibly.

I dont buy the 'its too hard to enforce the ban on alcohol' jive. Everything else is banned and people STILL do these substances and we STILL enforce those laws even though we will NEVER stop people from taking them...Our tax money supports the massive budgets of several drug enforcment agencies, we have never let the fact that it is difficult stop us from fighting the drug war and we shouldnt let people continue to do drugs (alcohol) simply because its going to be hard...we gave up the good fight.

Thats what I think anyway

 

Problem is if you ban it then were do you get the tax revenue that you have raised from it's sale

 

I dont think they worried about that when it came to everything else they banned...remember, this is for our safety, its not about money

 

I say ban all forms of alcohol and tobacco advertising. Alcohol contributes to a lot of problems:
-domestic violence
-workplace injury/death
-drunk driving
-a drag on the work force in the form of missed days and lower productivity
...I remember when my dad stopped drinking it totally changed my family for the better, alcohol really f's up families.

 

Automobiles are much more dangerous to society than probably anything else we have ever banned. Think of how many people die or are injured each year by these death machines. Not to mention the effect they have on the environment.

Tis country will never be safe until motorized vehicles are banned.

 

Ah but it is not the motor car that is the danger but the driver under the influence of drink

 

Untold numbers of people die in these death traps every day with not a drop of liquor involved. I am almost positive it is the single largest cause of accidental death in the US. They are absolutely unsafe and should be banned. Tens of thousand of deaths could be prevented each year.

 

Alcohol contributes to a lot of problems:
-domestic violence
-workplace injury/death
-drunk driving
-a drag on the work force in the form of missed days and lower productivity
...I remember when my dad stopped drinking it totally changed my family for the better, alcohol really f's up families.[/QUOTE]

again, I agree 100% with Danr except the ban part...remember Capone ? Crime would skyrocket.

 

again, I agree 100% with Danr except the ban part...remember Capone ? Crime would skyrocket.[/QUOTE]

no no just ban that advertising of these products

 

More die when alcohol is involved.

 

Alcohol is only a danger when abused, tobacco on the otherhand is dangerous to the user & those around the user when being used as it is intended.

 

Without the automobiles, there would be no drunk driving deaths. In addition, I see stats on the internet that drunk driving accounts for about 1/3rd of automobile deaths. That means 2/3rds of auto deaths (a heavy majority) are not alcohol related at all. They are just needless deaths caused by these mechanical devices of the devil which should be immediately banned for the safety of one and all.

 

Good point Stu...they are a danger to society. We foolishly think we can trust people to drive a large hunk of metal at fast speeds and not kill each other so maybe automobiles should be banned as well. People are too stupid…they talk on the phone and text while they drive…I have even seen a person reading a book while he drove. Also what about fast food…and caffeine…how many people can’t function without their morning coffee…it’s a speed…its addictive…plain and simple.

As for alcohol being a danger when abused...you can say that about any intoxicant...why is alcohol still legal? Why do we trust people NOT to abuse alcohol (even though so many do) and not other intoxicants? If all other intoxicants are banned for our own good because we cant trust people not to abuse them...shouldn’t one of the strongest intoxicants, and easily the most abused, be banned for our own good as well? Why do we trust people to drink booze when it’s obvious so many people have proven that we CANT trust them to drink responsibly? I agree about tobacco as well...that is one of the most dangerous drugs and still legal to use and abuse.

As for Al Capone...I guess you are saying that if alcohol is banned then people wont stop and then criminals will take over the manufacture and sale of the drug. Well...of course!! That’s how it is with anything you ban!! It never stop us with anything else BUT alcohol? Why did we reconsider with alcohol?

Right now the people who manufacture, deal and take the drug are legal companies but in truth Budweiser is a drug manufacturer and trafficker and your local bar is a dealer…they are making and selling intoxicants…one of the only intoxicants that is allowed to remain legal. If you ban booze then of course criminals will start making and trafficking the drug...that’s true with everything. Only with alcohol have we decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Even though it is one of the strongest and most addictive substances one could take to get high.

Marijuana used to be legal...when they made it illegal, then only criminals grew, sold and took the drug. Before they made it illegal, those people were not criminals (unless they committed other real crimes). Of course just making it illegal didn’t stop people from using it...millions still smoke the stuff and now Mexican drug cartels supply it (or Americans growing it illegally). We spend huge amounts of money (tax payer money) and time to fight these people and make the users, growers, and those who transport it into criminals and lock them away...we even allow companies and the government to take our bodily fluids to examine to make sure we aren’t doing it. Think about it…we allow companies and the government to have our bodily fluids to be examined and put on file, just the thought of this doesn’t bother anyone? 1984? Think about the amount of personal rights we have given up in the name of fighting drugs. Then they deny them jobs if they have done it (not that this even stops them from doing it) and make sure they can only get the most menial of jobs. Now of course you can be drunk almost every day of your life and never worry about most of this as long as you just don’t get drunk on the job (or when they are testing) and of course many cant even manage this.

Now I dont do drugs so this doesnt effect me...so I have nothing to fear about all these invasive tactics the drug war uses....and I dont take alcohol either so I say we add one more to the list.

So, why is it that we didn’t feel the need to continue to fight those criminals who drank and trafficked in booze but we are more than happy to continue the drug war that obviously doesn’t stop people from taking all those drugs they have banned? We have allowed the DEA the power to schedule any substance they deem should be illegal and since their whole reason for existence is busting so called 'drug criminals' (even if they have done no other crime than to buy, take and sell these substances as adults)...would the DEA ever find a drug they DONT think should be scheduled when their whole justification of their budget relies on having many drug users to bust?? I wonder how many of those DEA agents bust a guy growing pot then gets off work and celebrates with a beer? Why is it that the DEA doesnt fight to ban one of the most damaging drugs used in this society?

Its for our safety!!

I just can think of a single reason why alcohol isn’t banned and all other substances, even those who are less dangerous, are…

 

Switching to seriousness, I think I have a the reason why alcohol is not banned and other substances are. Money.

No, I am not talking about taxes, although I am sure the politicians would not want to give that up. But, that is just a side effect.

I am talking about the bribes...errrrrr, I mean, lobbying that goes on. Alcohol has a huge lobby effort from "Big Alcohol" just the same as tobacco. Marijuana does not. The Alcohol lobby is big and motivated and rich. The marijuana lobby is small, too wasted to be organize and broke.

Always follow the money. lol

 

1 beer or 1 glass of wine won't hurt you or anyone else. You can't really say that about the other substances you mentioned.

 

I'm just saying lets just not have any advertising for alcohol or tobacco

 

Dan,

Do you really think that advertising causes people to drink more alcohol. In my experience, advertising only affects the decision of what brand the consumer chooses when they walk into the bar or liquor store. Before they go out, they have already made the decision to drink.

Your solution would be symbolic but I don't think it would have much overall effect. JMO.

 

I've seen kids doing the Bud-Wi-Zer frog thing. To me that means that the ad was aimed at kids. If ads did not work they would not exist.

 

Unless they were drinking a beer while doing the BUD-WI-ZER frog thing, I think you are overreacting. Kids like the GEICO gecko also, that doesn't mean GEICO is targeting them for car insurance.

I hope you are not insinuating that alcohol would not exist without advertising. Alcohol is thousands of years old. I submit that if you really want to reduce alcohol consumption, you must first have every religion that celebrates the consumption of it denounce that practice in their respective religion.

 

Yeah you don't want to reduce alcohol consumption by the general public. Might get them, I don't know....thinking!