I have a (tiny) group on Facebook, but before I post, I want to know the facts. Is alcohol consumption by adults of legal age a privilege or is it a right? Driving is a privilege and not a right, so I was wondering the descrepencies there.
2006-09-11 20:23:31 · 13 answers · asked by Chou Mein 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Good point. It can't be a right since the 21st Amendment allows states to outlaw sale of alcohol. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repeal_of_prohibition
Consumption is prohibited in the USA under age 21 by a web of state laws coerced by a federal law.
In other countries, there are different rules. Nearly all countries allow consumption of alcohol by minors at home except, perhaps, to the extent that it is abusive.
In the USA, even during Prohibition, consumption of SACRAMENTAL WINE was allowed. This suggests a recognition that there is a right to consume it.
2006-09-11 20:39:10 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
It's a privilege. You have to be of legal age to use it, and if you abuse it, your ability to consume it can be taken away. By this I mean that if you hurt someone while drinking, or commit other types of crime, it is generally a condition of probation and parole that you must abstain from alcohol consumption. If it was your right, prisoners in jail would be given it, you could buy it 24 hours per day, drink while working, drink while driving, etc. In some states, like mine, you can't buy alcohol on Sunday. If it were a right, this would not be allowed.
2006-09-11 20:31:13 · answer #2 · answered by dh1977 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It is a privilege not a right since a drunk person is very dangerous.
2014-05-10 08:17:34 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I humbly maintain that drinking booze is a right, not a privilege. One of the deeds I'm most proud about is that I supplied liquor to people who could not otherwise have obtained it, for no profit, at risk to myself, in a country which banned liquor to everybody except a few well-paid European residents. If I'd been caught, I'd certainly have been imprisoned and deported and I'd have lost my well-paid job, and possibly I'd have been flogged. Booze is much older than written language; it's probably pre-human. Our chimp and gorilla cousins and probably our pre-human ancestors enjoy and enjoyed respectively getting pissed on overripe fruit. Temperance is a very modern aberration. Until the 20th century, alcoholic liquor was one of the few safe beverages in the world; it still is, in poor places. Driving is different because it can kill more people than drunken behaviour and it's less basic than boozing. The only situations in which alcohol is a serious health and public order risk are those in which it is combined with driving, aviation, firearms and similar; all of which are, and should be, closely-regulated in civilised countries. Driving under the influence is like driving while tired; it's dangerous, but neither drunkenness nor fatigue are on their own wrong.
2006-09-11 20:45:35 · answer #4 · answered by zee_prime 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It is a right if you are of legal age.... but consumption is where the right ends.... then the extent of your right is judged on what you do after consumption.... such as causing trouble, driving while under the influence, harming other people or their property.... etc..
2006-09-11 20:31:18 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
alcohol consumption is a privilege along with driving you must be responsible to drive or you get your license revoked and you must be responsible to drink or you get you can end up in jail or worse falling into a deep deep hole of alcoholism either way you must be very cautious and responsible if you are to consume alcohol.
2006-09-11 20:34:05 · answer #6 · answered by powersmitch 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Pretty much everything that's regulated by law or govern by age is a priviledge. Your government determines your legal access to Alcohol, some people are permitted this right, others are not, therefore it's a priviledge.
2006-09-11 20:28:34 · answer #7 · answered by W0LF 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
its one of those fuzzy ones. voting is a right, but it is regulated by some federal laws. owning a gun is a right but there are limits on who can legally buy a weapon. based on how the US constitution banned alcohol, but then repealed the ban later is a strong argument for it being a right. however, most other rights and responsibilites come at age 18. your call.
2006-09-11 20:36:53 · answer #8 · answered by Stand-up Philosopher 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's neither. The consumption of alcohol is a personal choice.
2006-09-11 20:28:46 · answer #9 · answered by ne11 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Birth Right.
It has been scientifically proven that if we drink one litre of water each day, at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than one kilo of Escherichia Coli Bacteria found in water that contains feaces.
In other words, we are consuming one kilo of (s)hit. However, we do not run that risk when drinking rum, gin, whiskey, beer, wine or other liquors because alcohol has to go through a distillation process of boiling, filtering and fermentation.
THEREFORE -
IT IS better to drink alcohol and talk (s)hit than to drink water and be full of it !!
2006-09-11 20:25:13 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 4⤋