I support bringing back Prohibition

[Big Boo]

Here are some recent news articles that make me wonder why Prohibition was overturned:

Drunk driver kills man: https://www.kansas.com/news/local/crime/article241721601.html

Drunk driver who killed entire family given parole: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/drunk-driving-saskatoon-mckay-van-de-vorst-1.5519819

Another drunk driver kills man: Sheriff: Ovid man killed by drunk driver in Waterloo – Fingerlakes1.com

Drunk driver kills little 9 year old boy: Drunk driver plows through stop sign, kills little boy, 9, who stood up for bullied children: Police

Drunk driver kills 3 people: Suspected drunk driver kills three in wrong-way crash in southern Indiana

Drunk driver kills woman and toddler: Woman, toddler killed in wrong-way crash on 95

The news is full of these sorts of articles. Keep in mind that all the articles I posted were recent cases. Drunk driver fatalities aren’t outliers—they’re common.

In fact, 30 people are killed by drunk drivers every day in America, which is one dead person every 50 minutes: Drunk Driving

People say Prohibition didn’t work, so why not make alcohol legal. After all, it can be taxed and regulated, right? This argument is akin to saying we should make crystal meth and cocaine legal, since people are always going to be using hard drugs. Drugs, as with alcohol, are bad and must be illegal. For this reason, I support Prohibition. What about you?

 

[Subduction Zone]

So you support the existence of organized crime.

 

[JackRT]

It seems to me that the biggest effect of prohibition on the life of the nation was to entrench and enhance the power of organized crime.

 

[Tanj]

People say Prohibition didn’t work, so why not make alcohol legal. After all, it can be taxed and regulated, right?

Right.

This argument is akin to saying we should make crystal meth and cocaine legal, since people are always going to be using hard drugs.

Also correct.

Drugs, as with alcohol, are bad and must be illegal.

And smoking and, especially for your country, obesity and diabetes, so lets ban sugar as well.

Let's completely control all the things people can do. Land of the Free!

For this reason, I support Prohibition. What about you?

Exceptionally silly idea.

 

[Strathos]

That's a terrible idea, and I say that as someone who never drinks.

 

[jacks]

And smoking and, especially for your country, obesity and diabetes, so lets ban sugar as well.

And don't forget cell phones!

The National Safety Council reports that cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year.

• Nearly 390,000 injuries occur each year from accidents caused by texting while driving.
• 1 out of every 4 car accidents in the United States is caused by texting and driving.
• Texting while driving is 6x more likely to cause an accident than driving drunk.
• Answering a text takes away your attention for about five seconds. Traveling at 55 mph, that's enough time to travel the length of a football field.
• Texting while driving causes a 400 percent increase in time spent with eyes off the road.
• Of all cell phone related tasks, texting is by far the most dangerous activity.

 

[JackRT]

When I first got a cell phone, I placed a call to my wife while driving. I swore that I would never do that again. I never have.

 

[jacks]

When I first got a cell phone, I placed a call to my wife. I swore that I would never do that again. I never have.

I'm assuming you were driving at the time. If not, well that's a whole other thread...

 

[HatedByAll]

The problem with prohibition is it is absolutely impossible to enforce. It is very easy to homebrew beer and to ferment wine. It is even probable that you have friends who do it right now. All we as a nation could do to stop it would be to stop the sales of supplies and to do that you would even have to stop normal food supplies.

Liquor is a little harder to make at the home but a distillery is easy enough to make
The only reason bootleggers get caught is because they get greedy and make gallons at a time instead of just making a fifth or two at a time.

Disclamer: I have not had a drink or even any Baptist Sunday School rum balls this century. I am not pro drinking, but realize trying to stop it completely by passing laws is futile.

 

[durangodawood]

...This argument is akin to saying we should make crystal meth and cocaine legal, since people are always going to be using hard drugs. Drugs, as with alcohol, are bad and must be illegal. For this reason, I support Prohibition. What about you?

Wait, you're a Christian. How can you say Jesus would do something bad (make wine) for other people he obviously cared about?

Maybe there's a reason he didnt make a bag of speed for the wedding?

 

[Desk trauma]

Drug prohibition is more damaging to society that drug abuse, a return to prohibition for the most popular and widely used drug would be orders of magnitude worse.

 

[Sabertooth]

There is no Biblical basis or precedent for the prohibition of alcohol.

That would be adding another law to the Bible.

 

[JSRG]

People say Prohibition didn’t work, so why not make alcohol legal. After all, it can be taxed and regulated, right? This argument is akin to saying we should make crystal meth and cocaine legal, since people are always going to be using hard drugs.

And maybe we should make them legal! It would make it easier for addicts to get help as they wouldn't have to worry about going to prison, it would reduce the power of organized crime considerably, and it would make drug usage safer. A flat ban means the government can't put in actual standards for the drugs, like requiring it to be clear how much is in any given unit. That makes overdoses easier (imagine trying to take medication without knowing for sure how much is in each tablet!). Further, it means the drugs can be more dangerous to your health because lack of oversight means they can be improperly made and kill someone more easily.

I'm not sure if I agree these are strong enough reasons to legalize drugs, but people do make these arguments and you have to actually engage with them if you're going to say "This is like saying we should make crystal meth and cocaine legal..."

Though even setting that aside, there is another difference: Alcohol is way more popular than meth or cocaine. So the argument of "people are always going to..." applies better with alcohol because a lot more people are going to use alcohol. Heck, you could criminalize alcohol, decriminalize all other drugs, and I expect alcohol would still be consumed more than the others.

It seems to me that the biggest effect of prohibition on the life of the nation was to entrench and enhance the power of organized crime.

In fairness, the evidence is that prohibition did reduce alcohol consumption by quite a bit. We obviously don't have hard direct data on consumption, but during the period of prohibition there was a marked decrease in people suffering from alcohol-related illnesses like liver disease. The problem is it also fueled organized crime like heck and the tradeoff was seen as not being worth it.

I wonder what effect a ban on drunkenness would have. Not on drinking--drunkenness. Right now I think you only get arrested for drunkenness if you're doing something like driving, but what if drunkenness was banned in all situations?

 

[JackRT]

There are societies in which drunks are seen as objects of pity. There are also societies in which drunks are regarded as comical figures. Public drunkenness is almost unknown in the latter. It would seem that nobody likes to be laughed at. Unfortunately we in the USA and Canada think drunks are funny. We even pay actors and comedians to portray them.

 

[Tanj]

Anyway, onto more important matters...

Four Pillars named International Gin Producer of the Year at drinks industry Oscars

Their distillery is half an hour up the road from me...Actually I just realised I need to go to the bottle shop.

 

[jacks]

Anyway, onto more important matters...

Four Pillars named International Gin Producer of the Year at drinks industry Oscars

Their distillery is half an hour up the road from me...Actually I just realised I need to go to the bottle shop.

And they are using their resources to produce hand sanitiser now. Good for THEM.

 

[JackRT]

Anyway, onto more important matters...

Four Pillars named International Gin Producer of the Year at drinks industry Oscars

Their distillery is half an hour up the road from me...Actually I just realised I need to go to the bottle shop.

Pick up the tonic at the same time.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Pick up the tonic at the same time.

All my tonic water comes from Australia.

 

[Tanj]

All my tonic water comes from Australia.


View attachment 274237

Ironic. UK makes the best tonic in the world.
Fever-Tree - Wikipedia

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Ironic. UK makes the best tonic in the world.
Fever-Tree - Wikipedia

That may be, but I think I have an acquired taste. The first “good” gin and tonic I ever had was in Perth/Freemantle in 1996. I had better in Hobart and Toowoomba, but the Tonic water was the same, only the gin changed. When I returned to the states, I still had the gin but used “American made” tonic water. It was horrible. It could be psychological, but I just like Australian made Schweppes tonic water.