Why alcohol should be illegal

[freethefly 6]

Considering the devestation that alcohol cause, maybe it is time to raise the drinking age to 25. Also, enact a zero tolerance law and minimum sentencing regarding alcohol and driving. Any level of alcohol should revoke driving privilage and do at least 30 days in jail for a first offense and a second should get a year. A third offence should get life.
Better yet alcohol should be taken out of society all together.

Alcohol Impaired Driving Statistics
Total Fatalities / Fatality Rates
250,000 people have died in alcohol related accidents in the past 10 years.
Presently 25,000 people are killed each year in alcohol related accidents.
500 people are killed each week in alcohol related accidents.
71 people are killed each day in alcohol related accidents.
One American life is lost every 20 minutes in alcohol related auto crashes.
It is estimated that one out of every two Americans will be involved in an alcohol related accident in his or her lifetime.
In 1994, New Hampshire had 119 total highway fatalities, 42 were alcohol related (or 35.3% of the total). New Hampshire leads the nation with one of the lowest percentages of alcohol related fatalities.


Cause of Death
Alcohol related crashes are the leading cause of death for young Americans, between the ages of 16 and 24 years old.
For all Americans between 5 and 35 years of age, motor vehicle accidents are the number one cause of death. Over 50% of these accidents are caused by alcohol impaired drivers.
Recent Alcohol-Involvement
Over 50% of all fatal highway crashes involving two or more cars are alcohol related.
Over 65% of all fatal single car crashes are alcohol related.
Over 36% percent of all adult pedestrian accidents are alcohol related.
80% of all fatal alcohol related auto crashes occur between 8 pm and 8 am.
36% of all adult pedestrian accidents involve an intoxicated pedestrian.


Injury Crashes / Collisions
Every year, 708,000 persons are injured in alcohol related crashes; 74, 000 of those people suffer serious injuries.
About 2,000 people are hurt each day in alcohol related accidents.
Two million alcohol impaired driving collisions occur each year.
Arrest / Characteristics of Alcohol Impaired Drivers
Of every 200 to 2,000 alcohol impaired drivers on the road, only one is arrested. Therefore, the probability of getting caught is slim. Of those who are caught, very few receive a serious penalty.
The average alcohol impaired driver arrested on the highway has a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .20%, double the level for presumed intoxication in most states; that is 14 drinks of 86% proof liquor (or 14 beers) in 4 hours for a 180 lb. man.
Between 7 pm and 3 am on weekends, 10% of all drivers are legally impaired, in some parts of the country.Most Americans drink alcohol. Over 80% admit to driving after drinking.
Relatively few problem drinkers, about 7% of the driving population, account for over 66% of all alcohol related fatal accidents.
When drinkers are at the presumed level of intoxication, the risk of causing an accident is six times greater than for non-drinking drivers.


Youth
Although persons between 16 and 24 years old comprise only 20% of the total licensed population, and 20% of the total vehicle miles traveled in this country by all licensed drivers, they cause 42 percent of all fatal atcohol related crashes.
Economic / Societal Cost
According to a recent Allstate Insurance Company study, alcohol impaired drivers are estimated to cost American taxpayers $21 - $24 billion dollars per year.
National Geographic recently stated that alcohol abuse costs American society $136 billion and 65,000 lives annually.


Miscellaneous
Admittedly, the United States has one of the safest highway systems in the world, due in part to design characteristics, guard rails, highway markings and signs. We have relatively few fatalities per 100-million miles driven. But the portion of our accidents involving alcohol is among the highest in the world.
An accident by an alcohol impaired driver is the most frequently committed violent crime in the United States today.
Other alcohol-related statistics show the involvement of alcohol in many non-driving aspects:
40% of all suicide attempts are alcohol-related
54% of all violent crimes are alcohol-related
60% of all emergency room admissions are alcohol-related
80% of all domestic disputes are alcohol-related
From statistics complied by the U. S. Dept. of Transportation and the N. H. Department of Safety.

"...And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black."
Neil Young

[DrunkMonkey 0]

<waiting for the inane stoner "legalization" crap...>

We tried as a country to outlaw alcohol. It did not work.

[Skolls081102 0]

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We tried as a country to outlaw alcohol. It did not work.

I'd have to agree with you there. The statistics are bad- but for those of us who drink responsibly, why should we have to pay the price for the idiots of the world?
Maybe stronger and harsher penalties would help- maybe they won't- but banning alcohol is not the answer.

The sole intention, is learning to fly.Condition grounded, but determined to try.Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies.Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit.

[freethefly 6]

***We tried as a country to outlaw alcohol. It did not work.

That was 70 years ago. With greater police presence it should be no problem. Besides what kind of message is being sent to the children when alcohol is betrayed as "fun". A number of these "children" will die as the result of alcohol being legal. A stiff prison sentencing law would be a deterrent for people not to drink and would send the right message to the children that alcohol kills.

"...And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black."
Neil Young

[Darius11 12]

A third offence should get life.

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Let me see I had a beer got pulled over and now I am in jail for life sorry but that’s just stupid.

I wonder what % 25000 is of all who consume alcohol. I bet not much. There will always be stupid people who do stupid things that put them and others in danger. We need to stop punishing the majority because of a minority. This is a democracy after all.

I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." - Kurt Cobain

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[kallend 2,131]

I'd lower the drinking age to 14 and raise the driving age to 21. Then kids have 7 years to get over the "drinking is cool" thing before they get behind the wheel.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[PhreeZone 20]

I don't do drugs but to turn this around...

I'd have to agree with you there. The statistics are bad- but for those of us who smoke up/shoot up responsibly, why should we have to pay the price for the idiots of the world?
Maybe stronger and harsher penalties would help- maybe they won't- but banning drugs is not the answer.


I'd have to agree with you there. The statistics are bad- but for those of us who own guns responsibly, why should we have to pay the price for the idiots of the world?
Maybe stronger and harsher penalties would help- maybe they won't- but banning guns is not the answer.

I'd have to agree with you there. The statistics are bad- but for those of us who do anything responsibly, why should we have to pay the price for the idiots of the world?
Maybe stronger and harsher penalties would help- maybe they won't- but banning everything is not the answer.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[Darius11 12]

alcohol kills

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So do bicycle, skate boards cars, planes, dogs, electricity and even household products.

I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." - Kurt Cobain

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[beowulf 1]

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***We tried as a country to outlaw alcohol. It did not work.

That was 70 years ago. With greater police presence it should be no problem. Besides what kind of message is being sent to the children when alcohol is betrayed as "fun". A number of these "children" will die as the result of alcohol being legal. A stiff prison sentencing law would be a deterrent for people not to drink and would send the right message to the children that alcohol kills.

Hasn't detered murder, rape or all the other offenses that send people to prison. Why would it deter people from drinking?

They can't stop Marijuana or Cocaine what makes you think they could stop the sale of alcohol?

[unformed 0]

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<waiting for the inane stoner "legalization" crap...>

We tried as a country to outlaw alcohol. It did not work.

Please explain to me why the legalization of marijuana is "inane stoner crap"? Can you not smoke marijuana responsibly?

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[AggieDave 6]

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Hasn't detered murder, rape or all the other offenses that send people to prison. Why would it deter people from drinking?

Over policing always works, don't you know that? Geez, look at Communist China, they have no problems there due to over policing, the citizens never commit any crimes, never, not a one.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[unformed 0]

raising the drinking age would do no good. so people start becoming alcoholics at age 25 when the yactually have to be responsible. lower the drinking age to 16, teach them about it in school, let them go through the phase where they're just getting drunk while they're still young and are able to recover, rather than when they're older and will screw up their lives.

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[freethefly 6]

Then they should raise the legal drinking age to 25 as alcohol is the number one cause of car related death amongst 16-24. Sure, the 21 age limit did not keep the 16-20yo from drinking but maybe the thought of a very long prison sentence would keep them inline. As far as responible drinking? Very few drink in that manner once they have 3 or 4 drinks. Some even less. Why should my tax dollars support alcohol use? It is the most widely abused drug in the world and by far the most dangerous. It should be criminalized and added to the DEA's list of drugs with no medical value.

"...And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black."
Neil Young

[AggieDave 6]

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Please explain to me why the legalization of marijuana is "inane stoner crap"? Can you not smoke marijuana responsibly?

I read DrunkMonkey's response not as that, but as this is the kind of post that those who do tend to overuse marijana and possibly other drugs tend to come up with. That we have legal alcohol and alcohol is extremely dangerous, but marijuana is a safe little drug that has never hurt anyone and has helped thousands to a better life.


Personally I don't give a shit, I say legalize it and then treat it like alcohol, tax it and regulate it.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[justinb138 0]

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That was 70 years ago. With greater police presence it should be no problem. Besides what kind of message is being sent to the children when alcohol is betrayed as "fun". A number of these "children" will die as the result of alcohol being legal. A stiff prison sentencing law would be a deterrent for people not to drink and would send the right message to the children that alcohol kills.

How effective are the police at keeping other illegal drugs out of peoples hands?

[billvon 3,095]

>That was 70 years ago. With greater police presence it should be no
>problem.

That's true. Since we didn't invent police until 1950 or so, it will be completely different this time. And since technology did not advance during that time, no one will be able to make their own alcohol.

>Besides what kind of message is being sent to the children when alcohol
>is betrayed as "fun".

Exactly. Depictions of alcohol usage should be removed from movies, and replaced with more of the sort of wholesome images we have nowadays - like rape, mass murder and terrorism. That way we will not give children the wrong idea.

> A stiff prison sentencing law would be a deterrent for people not to
>drink and would send the right message to the children that alcohol kills.

Definitely! Ever since we've had stiff penalties for cocaine usage, cocaine usage has stopped in the US. Such laws have eliminated crime in the US; surely they can eliminate alcohol.

[Nightingale 0]

When you restrict a substance, you merely create a black market. You don't stop the substance from being sold or used, the government just doesn't collect tax money on it.

Lower the drinking age to 14 in the home and restaurants when accompanied by adults, 18 to purchase or drink in bars, and I think that a lot of the drinking problems we have now will stop.

Getting totally wasted in college has become a right of passage, considered "cool" and the thing to do. There's tremendous pressure from peers and society about this. They haven't learned to drink responsibly from their parents or family, because by the time they start drinking, they're out of the house. Alcohol represents a forbidden fruit, and people go way overboard when its new to them. Many people's first alcoholic beverage isn't beer or wine, it's vodka spiked punch, shots or other hard alcohol, which makes it a lot easier to be irresponsible. It's harder to get drunk on beer or wine, simply because of the volume of liquid. Imagine if you drank as much Jack Daniels as your friend drank beer... you'd probably end up in the hospital.

The alcohol policies here need to change... but raising the legal drinking age isn't going to help, as any kid over the age of 12 knows where to get alcohol if they try. Society can't prevent teens from drinking, but it can encourage them, by lowering the legal drinking age, to learn about alcohol in a responsible environment at home rather than from friends and frat/sorority buddies at college.

[lawrocket 3]

Some statistics you are missing:

A 1994 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine concluded that drivers involved in alcohol-related fatal crashes were eight times more likely to have had DWI convictions in the previous 5 years than drivers randomly selected from the general population of licensed drivers.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) indicates that in 1996, about one in six drivers with positive BAC levels who died in traffic crashes had been convicted of driving while intoxicated during the three previous years.

A 1995 California study suggests that 44 percent of drivers convicted of DUI in that State are
reconvicted of DUI within 10 years.

So, this is much like anything we see. You know that 10 percent of drivers are responsible for 75 percent of moving violations, right? Here I am having never gotten a speeding ticket while I know others with five or more.

We know that less than 2 percent of all people are responsible for over 95 percent of all violent and grand property crimes.

Thus, you've got a situation here where, much like several other situations, you've got a small percentage of repeat offenders who are responsible for a great deal of the DWI and DUI. I'd like to find out how many DUI arrests also include the charge of driving with a suspended license?

What are my thoughts? There are a lot of people I know who have been pinched for DUI. All of them don't drink when they have a vehicle because they learned their lessons. I learned from them, too. Luckily for them, these mistakes didn't hurt anybody or anything but their wallets and their dignity.

I also think that to respond to this we should LOWER the drinking age. Why make it a mystery? Why make it so that kids at 18 head score some beer and drink it all before they get caught with the goods? Let them get experience and quit treating it like a goddamned mystery. Then they'll know what it's about and usually act accordingly.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[chuckbrown 0]

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I'd lower the drinking age to 14 and raise the driving age to 21. Then kids have 7 years to get over the "drinking is cool" thing before they get behind the wheel.

The French don't have this problem for pretty much this reason. Well, the drinking young part anyway.

[DrunkMonkey 0]

My old man caught me with a beer once when I was 14. Made me drink the whole six pack. I puked my guts out. I didn't drink until I was 21. Aversion therapy is good.

[gmanpilot 0]

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With greater police presence it should be no problem. (prohibition)

I am very familiar with our government's obsession with present day prohibition. News Flash: It's not working. It did not work before. It will never, ever work. It's stupid to even try.

_________________________________________
-There's always free cheese in a mouse trap.

[jumpjunkie2004 0]

Changing the law won't prevent under age people from drinking.

Instead of looking to the government, parents need to teach their children how to act responsibly.

Jump, Land, Pack, Repeat...

[kelpdiver 2]

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Then they should raise the legal drinking age to 25 as alcohol is the number one cause of car related death amongst 16-24.

What's the leading cause for of car related death for the rest of us?

[rehmwa 2]

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Then they should raise the legal drinking age to 25 as alcohol is the number one cause of car related death amongst 16-24.

What's the leading cause for of car related death for the rest of us?

Boredom from getting stuck behind old guys wearing hats

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Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[kallend 2,131]

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Then they should raise the legal drinking age to 25 as alcohol is the number one cause of car related death amongst 16-24.

What's the leading cause for of car related death for the rest of us?

Boredom from getting stuck behind old guys wearing hats

I thought I was the only one to have noticed the relation between hats and driving.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.