Why is alcohol legal?
Laozi Old Man
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 6,665
Originally Posted by caboblanco 
So if it was illegal you are saying you would never drink? The reason it's legal in this country is because prohibition failed miserably.
There was no tax on illegal booze.
You did not have to be of any minimum age to buy it.
There was no time of day nor day of week when it was not available.
Speakeasy's were sometimes located in peoples homes and showed up nearly everywhere.
You did not have to travel as far to find booze.
The boot-legger would deliver it to your house.
The boot-legger would give you a discount for large quantities.
If purchased at a discount - you could sell it to your friends at a profit.
Moonshine was often stronger than any legal booze.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: De
Posts: 1,333
Originally Posted by lovesymphony
I don't think it should be. I'm curious about other alcoholics opinions. People would still find ways to drink, ofcourse, but it wouldn't be nearly so bad. I read that 1 in 5 people who drinks ends up with a serious problem. There's no way of knowing whether you''ll be that person or not, until you become that person. And you'll probably drive, too. It is so awful how drinking is simply expected for people in their 20s. Why is that?? I'm addicted to neurontin and ambien as well as alcohol. Alcohol has been much more dangerous than any prescribed meds I've had.
The USA has more people in prison than any other country. Billions of dollars wasted trying to control it. Many freedoms once enjoy gone thanks to the so called war on drugs. What's worse, drug and alcohol treatment is just an afterthought getting just pennies compared to the billions and billions given to agencies like the DEA. If you happen to have a lot of cash to buy a car and get stopped by a cop, they can seize your money and property, and you have to prove that you were doing nothing illegal, at your own expense.
Make it illegal??? Hell no.
Guest
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 480
Originally Posted by lovesymphony
I prefer weed to alcohol but I never smoke it because it's illegal. It's expensive and there's drug testing sometimes for finding a job.I have not slept ALL night and the beer to help my major insomnia is just a few blocks down the street. How tempting is that?
Forum Leader
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Wisconsin, USA
Posts: 16,945
There are a lot of things that "should" or "shouldn't" be. Alcohol is illegal in some places in the world. Most places it is not however, and it's not going to be anytime soon that the law changes.
The bottom line though is that an active addict WILL find something to get high with, no matter what laws exist. It's human nature to seek pleasuere, and civilizations since the beginning of time have drank/eaten/ingested/smoked substances that give them pleasure. And some of those people get addicted to said subtances.
Realizing your addiction and treating/managing it is the most important thing one can do. You can go lobby to make any drug illegal or use the counter-argument to legalize an illicit drug, but at the end of the day if you are an addict it is really irrelevant. You need to deal with your addiction regarless of any law.
The bottom line though is that an active addict WILL find something to get high with, no matter what laws exist. It's human nature to seek pleasuere, and civilizations since the beginning of time have drank/eaten/ingested/smoked substances that give them pleasure. And some of those people get addicted to said subtances.
Realizing your addiction and treating/managing it is the most important thing one can do. You can go lobby to make any drug illegal or use the counter-argument to legalize an illicit drug, but at the end of the day if you are an addict it is really irrelevant. You need to deal with your addiction regarless of any law.
Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,778
Originally Posted by MaxxPower
Funny how this kinda question last year would have gotten me upset.
Abusing alcohol can completely blind someone..
wouldn't even put 2 seconds of thought into this at the time..
Abusing alcohol can completely blind someone..
wouldn't even put 2 seconds of thought into this at the time..
Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Canada
Posts: 300
Originally Posted by readerbaby71
So are you saying alcohol should be illegal? Using a chainsaw without goggles can completely blind someone too. Should we outlaw chainsaws because some don't use them responsibly?
No. alcohol shouldn't be illegal.
You misunderstood my comment..I don't feel the need to elaborate further on this subject.
EndGame
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 4,677
We've amply demonstrated in our own history that making the sale of alcohol illegal does not fix alcoholism; making it illegal contributes greatly to worsening a range of social ills. That we drink, how much we drink and what we do when we're drinking is a matter of personal responsibility; not the consumption of a disembodied and inert substance.
As is true of most matters of individual choice, when the government gets involved in regulating behavior, things usually go very wrong. Just look at our history in the "war on drugs."
As for alcohol being illegal were it to have been "invented" only recently...Alcohol wasn't "invented." It was a discovery that became a necessity around the world for hundreds of years because distilled and otherwise purified spirits were much less harmful than drinking water. As for salt, well, that's just a necessity for optimum health -- it's about the way we're built -- no matter how much damage sodium can do when taken regularly in large amounts. This is only one reason why the price of salt remains ridiculously low.
As is true of most matters of individual choice, when the government gets involved in regulating behavior, things usually go very wrong. Just look at our history in the "war on drugs."
As for alcohol being illegal were it to have been "invented" only recently...Alcohol wasn't "invented." It was a discovery that became a necessity around the world for hundreds of years because distilled and otherwise purified spirits were much less harmful than drinking water. As for salt, well, that's just a necessity for optimum health -- it's about the way we're built -- no matter how much damage sodium can do when taken regularly in large amounts. This is only one reason why the price of salt remains ridiculously low.
Laozi Old Man
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 6,665
Originally Posted by EndGameNYC
As for alcohol being illegal were it to have been "invented" only recently...Alcohol wasn't "invented."
Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Calif
Posts: 757
Originally Posted by EndGameNYC
As is true of most matters of individual choice, when the government gets involved in regulating behavior, things usually go very wrong. Just look at our history in the "war on drugs.".
look how the american health care system was just taken over by the government (Obamacare), look how messed up it has already become and it is not totally in place yet.
Laozi Old Man
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 6,665
Originally Posted by robgt350
look how the american health care system was just taken over by the government (Obamacare), look how messed up it has already become and it is not totally in place yet.
Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 321
And it dies... lol. I think it's been properly explained though. Alcohol is legal for a few major reasons.
It generates revenue that keeps local and federal governments up and running.
People enjoy it and use it in usually responsible ways that are not a detriment to others.
It's been around so long that it is part of society.
And finally there's those of us that hate having other people tell us what we can and cannot do, and refuse to support laws that limit our freedoms.
It generates revenue that keeps local and federal governments up and running.
People enjoy it and use it in usually responsible ways that are not a detriment to others.
It's been around so long that it is part of society.
And finally there's those of us that hate having other people tell us what we can and cannot do, and refuse to support laws that limit our freedoms.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Midwest
Posts: 9,029
Banning alcohol would have little affect on consumption and would drive the market into a criminally run underground. I was at an AA bg book meeting last week and we started reading Bill w's story. He describes in great detail the copious amounts of alcohol he drank when he discovered the stock market crashed in 1920 and in the months and years following. Beng a college history major the dates made me pause and think.. This thread resurrected my curiosity. So I googled prohibition. All this drinking took place during prohibition. It was readily and easily available. Not once did bill w. mention the illegality of his purchases or that it was hard to come by. It was taken as fact that it was there. So, it has been tried and doesn't work.
Even my grandfather has told me of one of his earliest memories. His Swedish immigrant parents hosted a party and had a large punch bowl of glogg. Grain alcohol fortified wine with fruit marinating in it. Very high alcohol content. The guests had taken out the fruit and put it on their plates and gone into the cellar to dance. My grandfather, who was five at the time, 1925, ate the fruit and then passed out under the table where they found him later. This was during prohibition and alcohol was available to the average person.
It is here to stay. Much like illegal street drugs but I cannot see those made legal even though the war on drugs has such a negligible impact.
Even my grandfather has told me of one of his earliest memories. His Swedish immigrant parents hosted a party and had a large punch bowl of glogg. Grain alcohol fortified wine with fruit marinating in it. Very high alcohol content. The guests had taken out the fruit and put it on their plates and gone into the cellar to dance. My grandfather, who was five at the time, 1925, ate the fruit and then passed out under the table where they found him later. This was during prohibition and alcohol was available to the average person.
It is here to stay. Much like illegal street drugs but I cannot see those made legal even though the war on drugs has such a negligible impact.
Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,778
Originally Posted by MaxxPower
Oh geez. excellent chainsaw example.
No. alcohol shouldn't be illegal.
You misunderstood my comment..I don't feel the need to elaborate further on this subject.
No. alcohol shouldn't be illegal.
You misunderstood my comment..I don't feel the need to elaborate further on this subject.
Member
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Central America/Florida USA
Posts: 4,064
Originally Posted by DoubleBarrel
We tried that here in the US, and it was a total disaster, people drank as much as ever, and people were killed in the streets because the mafia was in control of the distribution.
This is what's happening with drugs, including marijuana & cocaine. What is your opinion on legalizing other substances, then, if this is your opinion on why alcohol shouldn't be illegal?
We worry about "getting kids hooked" on coke and weed. Do you think kids would really be able to access weed MORE if it were legal? Is it any more dangerous than alcohol? I know some states have made the move...what are your thoughts on that?
For the record, I think that all substances are their own "animal". You can't compare what's happened with alcohol to other substances, kind of an apples-to-oranges type thing, you can't really compare them.
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
