will there ever be a drinking or alcohol ban in this country?

Question

how many people have you heard of, in the media or anywhere else for that matter, who have caused accidents to people or even death to people by drink driving. do you think a ban on alcohol should be brought in as a result of this.the government have brought in a ban affecting smokers because many people believe smoking is bad for you and all around you, well i ask if a man smokes 10 cigarettes and then drives his car will he carreer all over the road endangering peoples lives or will the man who has drank 10 pints then starts driving cause more danger to the public, i think what you will find is that the drinker will cause more problems than the smoker .please give me your views .

Answer 1

No, drinking has become such a part of culture now. I agree that things can change, after all in Elizabethan times Laudanum was part of "culture" but it was also a highly addictive opiate. Smoking is going out of fashion now... who knows in ten years drinking may have too. But in the UK especially, going down the pub for a pint is still very much in vogue. Fathers takes their sons, mothers take their daughters,friends, stag nights and hen nights and office parties and a quiet glass of red in the house... it's too embedded now.

Answer 2

There already was a ban, a constitutional amendment in fact. It's never going to happen again, simply because of the trouble it caused the first time. Banning it only makes people do dangerous things like buy illegal (and often much stronger or unsafe) alcohol. Smoking is far less dangerous, but much more intrusive. Anyone within a large radius can smell the smoke from a cigarette and is affected by it, thus why many places will not let you smoke in public but have no problem with drinking.

Answer 3

Absolutely yes. But- in bringing back prohibition, America should most certainly be prepared. It could get ugly. Back in the 20's, it caused a lot of deaths. Maybe they could be better prepared for the corruption if they brought it back now. But you'll find a lot of people don't agree with banning alcohol, (including politicians) because they are alcoholics.
Then again, now, as an example of just how much the government is taking aim at our rights, in a lot of places, it's illegal to smoke in restaurants, bars, malls, grocery stores, etc. already, but now some areas are claiming it's illegal to smoke in your own car, or on the sidewalk outside your own home. "Smoke-free" counties they call them. I just wonder why they didn't do that to alcohol first.
So it's as always, a 50-50 toss up. No matter who would win, there'd be a battle and corruption anyway.

Answer 4

I hope not, despite being a non-smoker and only drink occasionally. The reason I hope not is that tax revenue from alcohol and tobacco generates around £6 billion a year for the treasury. If the government banned smoking and drinking outright, that shortfall would have to be made up from somewhere, that somewhere would be your wages so expect an 800% income tax rise if it is ever banned

Answer 5

In Eire, it is already against the law for a driver to drink so much as a single drop of alcohol.

We ought to follow this sensible Irish route and do likewise and pretty soon.

All we have at present is a criminal record and a ban if a person is caught over the limit.

Note the word caught above. The fuzz actually have to stop a driver in order to find out by a breath test if he/she is over the limit. In a lot of cases this obviously is not happening, hence the continuing high death toll on our roads resulting from drink drive.

Answer 6

Alcohol was banned in America; the Prohibition Days! (bootlegging booze)
In regards to drinking vs smoking, there is no reality to either being banned completely because of taxes, jobs, economy, and so on.
Check the facts: amount of deaths between the two, short term vs long term health issues, children/teens drinking more or smoking more, effects on the brain & other body functions, etc... Alcohol is wins every time.

Answer 7

It seems pretty weird, particularly as people over 18 are considered adults in other ways. On the other hand, it's fairly obvious that people in Anglo-Saxon countries can't hold their drink at that age (18-21). It's different for southern european people--Italian teenagers drink wine at dinner with their families, and no-one thinks twice about it. Furthermore, they don't abuse alcohol like English-speaking people do. It may have to do with stronger family ties, or the fact that you can't really binge drink on wine (you'll get sick). So maybe the answer is to put high taxes on beer and spirits, and low taxes on wine. That might be better than infringing on people's civil rights on grounds of age.

Answer 8

I do not think it would be banned but i do think that banning drinking out in public places would be a good move. It worked in Scotland , i was told to go inside with my bottle whilst having a cigarette a couple of years ago by the local police as apparently it was not allowed. The plus side would not having to put up with drunk idiots on a nice sunny day at the park or tha beach!!!

Answer 9

If you open one of those unused and dusty history books you must have lying around somewhere you will discover that there was a period in US history where all alcoholic beverages were banned. It started in 1920 and ended in 1933. It is referred to as prohibition. That was a period of bootleg booze, increased organized crime and corruption. People died from drinking home made hooch. There were people turned on to drinking alcohol who would never have thought of doing it otherwise. The speakeasy helped turn good girls to naughty girls because they could break the law and likely not be caught in visiting a speakeasy.

Oh yes, we have banned alcohol in this country and 13 years later reinstated it. Banning it caused more problems than we had when it was legal.

Alcohol has played an important role in our history besides prohibition. The pilgrums landed at Plymouth Rock rather than go on to Virginia, their actual goal, because they ran out of beer. The whisky rebellion is also an important event in history when President Washington had to send troops to quell a riot over taxation of home made whisky.

Answer 10

Just a small point but smoking has not been banned, you can still buy and smoke as many cigarettes as you want and your argument about driving while drunk well that is why drink driving is and has been for a long time illegal