Lets ban drinking!?

Question

Ok so we have banned smoking from July st, so why don't we ban drinking.
I smoke but don't drink, I do not like seeing drunken people falling all over the place when I am out and about. I am fed up with seeing beer cans and bottles in the street and on the roads. The hospitals are fed up with treating booze related illnesses.Why have they not banned drinking on planes? why should I sit near some one who has has a few to many and are creating mayhem. I am just a pi**ed off smoker.

Answer 1

i dont smoke and i am on your side! no one should tell you you should not smoke. well, your doctor might advise against it. i absolutely defend your right to smoke! where will it end? fat people cannot eat? skiers cannot ski because they may get injured? its all crap!

im with you on this one!

Answer 2

That action was already done in 1920 and prohibition didn't work. All it did was to outlaw drinking, purchasing and distributing of alcoholic beverages. It was originally done because the Christian Coalition religious leaders demanded it, but everybody hated it and those that wanted to purchase, drink and seek the alcoholic beverages did so through the black market. Because the drinking wasn't really controlled and the alcohol was distributed by organized crime and everybody knew it, what was the point? That law was repealed in 1933. That law was the 18th Amendment and repealed by Amendment 21. Prohibition didn't work then and it won't work now for cigarettes and other tobacco products. Americans have had those products since the beginning of the time they were used. They know the harm cigarettes and tobacco products do to the human body, causing emphysemia, cancer and a whole host of other ailments but they still use them and do it whether anybody cares or not.
Passing prohibition laws woundn't help a single soul out there.
People that are smokers will buy, buy and buy more. Making a crime out of any product that the people have relied on for their own useand entertainment is not the way to control anything. What astounds me is the fact that certain drugs a person may want to use such as marijuna and cocaine and others is outlawed and people STILL use them. Maybe in the near future the people will demand that those laws be changed to allow those drugs to be available for personal use and possession. It would take the crime out of it and reduce our overcrowding in jails and prisons to less than half of what it is now. The fact that marijuana is used in cancer pain reduction, and it being the ONLY agent out there that truly controls the pain of some cancer, people may demand it. If the government makes the agents available, it stops the use of fillers, it would be an acceptable alternative.

Answer 3

I absolutely agree with you. Preferably however, I wouldn't
wish to ban any substance because I would hope that
people can be mature enough to know how to enjoy cigarettes, alcohol, ... in moderation and without it ever becoming a problem for themselves or those around them.
That said; why should cigarette and marijauna smoking be banned when alcohol isn't? How hypocritical can you be!
In France, heart disease is the biggest cause of fatality.
One of the heighest rates in Europe. This is mostly due to alcohol. Unfortunately, some people here don't realise that wine is alcohol (how naive can you be !). It's a tradition it isn't alcohol. I drink very little and I don't smoke. I'm repelled by the sight of very drunken people doing extreme harm to themselves as well as potentially to those around them. When I was a teenager a class mate was killed by a drunk female driver. She must have served 4 days in prison as she was a mother herself. She must still be living with the guilt though. I'll never forget it.
Secondly, why is alcohol advertising still allowed and not cigarette advertising ? (at least in France anyhow, I'm not sure what the advertising law is in other countries).
Let's be honest, governments make huge sums of money from alcohol this is why the laws are less severe.
@David S: Don't you realise that when somebody is injured or killed as a result of a drunken person or a drunken driver that this is infact second hand drinking causing harm to a fellow citizen? Think about it, it's easy to grasp !

Answer 4

INDEED!

Why you ask? Why?

I live in FLORIDA where smoking is banned most everywhere now.

But---Let me tell you my young friend what the real problem is.

I am in the "security" busines, but am not a cop. I deal with people who have been victums of damn near everything on a daily basis. You would not believe what kind of animals are out there walking and driving our streets.

Sometimes I see 3 families a day. 5 days a week, sometimes 6 days a week who all wonder "WHY" things are so bad also. Drugs. Booze. Nut cases. Criminals.

WHY? You ask--just like the people I see daily. WHY?

So here's "why" in a nut shell:

People are scared, or they don't give a damn anymore.

People are scared they will piss off someone. They fear for their safety. Talk about banning drinking--, or banning smoking--, or banning almost anything--, and some fool idiot might shoot you or your family, or be PAID to shoot you or your family by someone.

Maybe if you JUST talk about it you will start getting strange phone calls. Cars that drive by slowly. Strangers looking at you. Break-ins. Thefts. Your pets might even get sick or disappear. Your kids aren't even safe.

Police can do little or NOTHING. Why? Because often their "boss" could be a part of the BIGGEST problem--, has a drinking or drug problem himself, or maybe its the local powerful Senator, Congressman, The Sheriff, The Captain,-- Ta-da, ta-da, ta-da. It can be dangerous to even talk about it.

Hell--, the problem goes all the way to most Governor's office and even up to the VERY top DOG's in Washington.

Haven't you figured this out yet? We have a bunch of booze hounds running the government. How do you think they got there? Who do you think sends them lots of MONEY to vote the way they want?

What do you think goes on at all of those polical "fund-raising" parties? It's Drinking. Smoking. Drugs. Whore's. Dating Services. Talk to Ted Kennedy. Hillary, and all the rest who see it daily.

Like Paul Harvey used to say--; "now YOU KNOW the rest of the story".

What are YOU going to do to change it??

Good luck.
(ps; I was in government systems for years, and am and have been a non-drinker and non-smoker for 20 years.)

Answer 5

Let's take a look at this issue.

Firstly, we have to realize that most (I use "most" fairly loosely) people will do whatever they want as long as they feel they are not going to be caught. We see this with Speeding, Drug Use, Piracy, etc,. So why should this idea not apply to a ban on Drinking? Even if we made it illegal, people would continue to drink regardless of a law that says they are legally not allowed to.

This, in effect, would cause the crime rate to go up, because in addition to rapists, murderers, thieves, etc, we would now add Alcoholics and Casual Drinkers to the overall contributors in the rate of crime in the nation. I hope that most of us realize that the majority of prisoners in the United States are minor drug offenders. (I'm not advocating drug use in any way here, I'm simply stating this for comparative purposes.)

I think a better idea than banning drinking altogether would be to teach MODERATION. Our culture is covetous, greedy, and gluttonous. We have no concept of knowing when to stop ourselves, whether it's while smoking, drinking, eating, or buying material things. The only reason that Alcoholism becomes a problem is because of a lack of Moderation in this country.

That's my two cents.

Answer 6

the US already tried that. it didn't work. and so now we have public drunkeness laws and alcohol bans on public recreational areas...

the problem with alcohol versus smoking is that alcohol is concealable--i can put some vodka in a juice bottle and it will still look like juice; i can go about my day with my spiked drink and no one will be the wiser, but smoking leaves a tell-tale trail of scent and smoke.


it would be so much better if people just stopped doing these things. but, we like what we like...and for some, smoking and/or drinking make them feel good. i drink and smoke...and i'm not too miffed about the smoking ban--but then again, i only smoked in place/around people that were ok with it (and that's the rub, most people smoke with disregard to other people around them)

Answer 7

It was tried in the US in the 1920's

As with drugs, the bad guys became rich. Companies like Segrams in Canada became richer producing alcohol for export to the states.

One reason why drunkeness has increased in the UK is that the police and town councils turn a blind eye to it.

In the past, if a pub had too many problems with underage drinkers and drunkeness, it lost its licence.

For some reason this no longer happens. If were were not in the UK. I would assume that brown envelopes were being passed to the police, but this is Britain and that would be unthinkable.

The fact is that dunkeness on our streets is the norm.

Controlling licences worked before and it could work again.

The question is why are licence conditions not being enforced?

In this case, we can only blame our government both national and local.

P.S. I can see no good reason why pubs can't have 'smokers', just like they used to have lounge bars and saloon bars in the bad old days.

Bow down before the blessed Tony!

Answer 8

You've got a point. You don't want to make drinking illegal, just inconvenient to do in an annoying way.

I definitely think alcohol should be banned on airplanes. People get pissy drunk, then get in their cars to drive home from the airport.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen underage drinkers buying alcohol during flights, too.

It's hard to say, though, where to draw the line. You ought to go to Singapore. The misery index is pretty high there, as gum chewing is banned in addition to drinking, smoking, and other self-indulgent activities.

Answer 9

The question that we need to address is "How far should we let the State control what it believes is good for us?"

If we ban alcohol, how about bungee jumping? Motorcycles? Alligator wrestling? Football? Unprotected sex?

I believe things have gone far enough; if controlled substances were regulated and not banned, there would be no drug lords and less gangs. Is that a bad thing?

There is already too much State control. Let's keep the booze flowing.

Answer 10

I'd try the softly softly approach. No spirits for those under 21. That is before the raids on home beer farms and Prohibition.

I bet the criminals can't wait for this opportunity.

Myself, I think all day opening has resulted in more drinking problems. This may settle down in the next generation.

Answer 11

I Don't drink or smoke but i believe that everyone has the right to.
But I do get pissed off with smokers and drinkers who think that cause they do those things it gives them extra rights. When people are drunk they can become offensive and violent very quickly or just be sick everywhere. and smokers seem to think that everyone should respect them for their addiction. but whatever.
My view is now do what you want providing it doesn't get in my face. Smoking blantley does whenever you go to a pub (or used to, i live in Wales) and you end up stinking of the stuff but at least with alcohol one drink doesn't make you as antisocial as one smoke.
Oh well its all person oppinions i guess