Posted on 02/19/2007 2:43:06 PM PST by SandRat
A law proscribing simple possession would face serious constitutional challenge.
Sure maybe in the US 80 years ago, the laws were different, but we are talking about today.
And I for one would vote to give any member of the military the right to consume alcohol, problem is we cannot selectively allow people of one group to do something w/o allowing others to do the same.
No illegal under 21 will be effected by this law.
This law only effects the law abiding citizen.
Which the government of Arizona seems damn well determined to shrink to a number equaling zero.
True the underage component will decline, but in the past, when it was 18 there was a huge uptick in the number of drunk driving incidents.
Lower the drinking age but greatly increase the penalties for drunk driving. The heck with taking the license - make the fine 10,000 for the first offense and 50K for 2nd along with a mandatory jail time of 30 days minimum - stop all the ARD programs and all that - just hammer them. Eventually, after about 75K in fines they offender won't have a home, nor a car, nor a job, nor the money to get drunk and drive.
Our problem is we tend to look at drunk driving as a sickness rather than a serious crime.
And who knew in our nations capital ...........
There are clubs that are allowed to admit minors where alcohol is served when "live music venues" are brought in. Apparently there is no requirement that the minor be with an adult and in some clubs, alcohol is served to minors -- big surprise!!!
An article in the Outlook section of the Wapo Sunday edition by Marc Fisher talks about the clubs, and how city officials are afraid to take any action because it either hurts the clubs or some parents from the suburbs would complain.
OB
The world is going crazy, or what?
The point is: THEY DON'T! Beer and wine are just beverages, not something to get wasted on. The Germans think we're really screwed up because we won't let a young person have a beer, but we will give them a deadly machine at age 16! Smooth talker is right. The Europeans ARE more sensible on this issue.
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I lived in Germany for 8 years. I have seen Germans of all ages get seriously polluted! In fact; I've seen Europeans from many different nations get really wasted.
Why not just allow anyone of military age to consume alcohol?
If a person is old enough to walk into a recruiting office and commit themselves to 2 or 3 years of (potentially deadly) service to their country, they are certainly old enough to walk into a bar and have a few beers.
I think that went out with bell bottom pants.
I remember a Saturday night back in 1970, we got stopped three times by the police, each time we had to dump out our beer before we were sent merrily on our way. Boy, was that an expensive night!
They also xenophobically stereotype the USA and Americans.
That's what happened to me and my friends back in 1980. We got the message.
The problem is that if you made penalties for drinking and driving that severe, no one would ever do it, and then what would all the defensive driving schools, probation officers, and substance abuse lecturers do?
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