Thinking About Teen Drinking

One of the sub-sets of the War On Drugsâ„¢ is the continuing, and pretty well fruitless, effort to prevent people under the age of 21 from drinking. Brad, the Unrepentant Individual, points out yet another episode in this continuing and puritanical folly in Alabama.

If the bill becomes law, people could drink draft beer only at a bar, restaurant, private club or other retail establishment licensed for beer sales by the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, said Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, the bill’s sponsor.

There’s so many reasons that this is not just stupid, but morally repugnant, swirling through my head that I hardly know where to begin. I think I’ll just toss out a list of thoughts at this point and all and sundry are welcome to join in the conversation.

  • Obviously, all you have to do is drive across the state line to one of the states that borders Alabama, buy a keg and drive it back to Alabama. Since this is interstate commerce, I don’t think there is anything that Alabama can do to prevent this, provided that you meet all the legal requirements to buy alcohol in the other state and consume, or possess, alcohol in Alabama. Even if you don’t, let’s stop and think about how well Prohibition worked.
  • The intent, acccording to Singleton, is to cut down on teen drinking at parties. This won’t do a darn thing to prevent, or diminish, teen drinking. Nothing. What it does is to prevent me from perfectly legal and ethical activity on the off chance that I might do something wrong. That is hardly a presumption of innocence until I’m proved guilty, now is it? This is like the media companies (Sony, anyone?) who want to prevent legal copying of music because you might make an illegal copy.
  • I’ve lived, and travelled, in Europe. One of the immediate things you notice is that Europeans don’t have the same puritan attitudes towards kids drinking as many Americans do. In Germany, for example, kids can, and do, go buy beer for their parents at the local store. And, teenagers go into bars and have a beer. I haven’t studied this, or looked up any statistics, but my personal observation was that they handled it much better than American kids do. Probably because it’s not treated as taboo.
  • It’s a bit hypocritical to insist that a 16 year old can drive a car, an 18 year old can assume the responsibilities of adulthood, including writing contracts, joining the military and voting, but you aren’t responsible enough to drink alcohol until you’re 21.
  • My experience as a teenager says that making it forbidden just guarantees that the kids go off somewhere secluded and drink anyhow. Alternatively, they’ll find some Washington Fake ID (which is very high-quality and difficult to identify as fake nowadays) and have easy access to a club. The worst option is most likely the secluded drinking because now you have a bunch of drunk teenagers driving from wherever the party was. This is blatantly going to result in disaster, whether they hurt themselves or someone else. They will need the help of someone like this DWI lawyer in Austin, TX. Jason Katims who would hopefully be able to lessen the charges against them, but it’s unlikely that they would get away it completely and could face time in prison. That’s so much better. Great plan guys. You don’t have to be a driver to know that getting behind the wheel after having a number of drinks is never the answer. It comes as no surprise to find that companies like Countrywide Testing exist, in the hopes of preventing teenagers (or anyone for that matter) getting behind the wheel after they’ve been drinking. It is not worth risking the lives of others and even yourself when it comes to drink driving. If you are someone who has found themselves in a situation like this, do some research into something like illinois dui (if you live in this state) and see what advice you can get from a professional DUI lawyer. Everyone, regardless of age should know better. It is always best to be safe than sorry, especially on the road.

Mike, at No Angst Zone, has an excellent rant in response to this topic. Although I have to say that I think a bit of angst is showing through Mike. ;-)

Security executive, work for Core Security, veteran, kids, dogs, cat, chickens, mortgage, bills. I like #liberty #InfoSec #scotch, #wine, #cigars, #travel, #baseball