lol @ OP

It already take me, a non hot chick, an absurd amount of time to get a drink at a crowded bar. Can't wait to see how long it takes when the bartender needs to run every drink though your database.

Maybe it could be like registering your Driver's License. Problem solved?

We all binge drink on weekends and that is seen as fully normal even if you arent in college anymore. So we are semi alcos.

How about a 'National Right to Drink' ID card?

Yeah, like medical mariHUUUANA!

Btw, Japan outdoes everybody when it comes to alcohol since they don't even consider alcoholism a disease.

http://www.cmaj.ca/content/167/4/388.1.full

Very little.

http://www.who.int/gho/substance_abu...prevalence/en/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List...ion_per_capita

To be fair to my anecdotal account, most of the scandis I've known were Finns and they seem to enjoy a kinship to their Russian neighbors in this regard.


Anyway, it seems to me like dramatically increasing the cost of alcohol has an effect of punishing the innocent bystanders of alcoholism. Addicts don't really care how much something costs, they will spend all of their money on it either way. If beer was cheap, an alcoholic husband will still give his family a lot of grief, but at least they will be able to afford food and at least they won't have to worry as much about him selling all of the valuable **** in the house to buy more alcohol.

It seems that the only positive effect of increasing the price is making it harder for people to become addicts to begin with, but I don't even think this effect is demonstrable. The most strictly controlled substances aren't cheap at all, especially when considering risk of being arrested and jailed, and yet drug addiction runs rampant.

You're ignoring the positive effect of raising taxes on alcohol to address alcohol related problems, seems pretty significant.

There is no concrete link between the specific taxes a state collects and the specific services a state renders to its citizens. They are each separate political endeavors with separate political consequences. If it is politically feasible to allocate state funds to address alcohol-related problems, then the state would have found money to do it already. Adding the alcohol taxes just increases the state's overall coffers, which then gets spent into deficit on whatever programs that will result in the highest short term benefit for the established leaders.

The pipeline of money directly from alcoholics' pockets to programs meant to treat them a very idealistic view of how government functions.

I never meant to suggest it was a direct pipeline I'd argue that it should be but taxes get raised and spent if one considers government spending on various programs good then the money raised by taxing alcohol and tobacco contributes to that.

The 30% in the OP should not just get a free pass. Maybe 5% of Americans are alcoholics. The survey that got the 30% number includes having abused alcohol at any point in your life, which could include just getting wasted a few times in college.

Not saying alcohol isn't the cause and cure of all of life's problems.

Seriously, I'm way more inclined to freedom. PSAs and such on alcohol seem sufficient and have helped attitudes change a lot on drink driving and drinking while pregnant. I think the same is happening now for sexual violence.

Perhaps restrictions on advertising would be reasonable imo.

I used to live in a town where for whatever reason we weren't able to purchase alcohol without going to a liqueur store. Lemme just say, this does nothing to stop alcoholism. My co-worker was a heavy drinker and I saw her at liquor store all time. All this really does is inconvenience the people who enjoy a casual drink. It's really no fun when you need some booze in a pinch and all the stores are closed and it's only 9pm. It made zero sense and was a puritan law.

Probably only about 1 in a 1000 people considered alcoholics in USA would be considered Alcoholics in Europe, probably 1 in 1,000,0000 in Russia.

It's not about making an absolute difference.

It's about the ['well, we (government) inundated society with alcohol, and as a result there are people with ruined lives. if we can make their lives easier as it relates to alcohol, we should.'] moralistic duty that government is sordidly lacking.

It's about common sense.

You need to consider the moral implications of the things you want to implement to stop alcoholism a lot more.

Common sense is that people like to drink and have for thousands of years, not that government inundated society with alcohol.

Do you mean that you'd want restrictions on alcohol even if you knew they wouldn't help?

Pennsylvania is one of the states with weird/strict liquor laws. You can only buy beer from a beer distributor, but when you do it has to be a case, not a six-pack. This is incredibly inconvenient as there are a lot craft beers nowadays and better import selections where I'd be happy to try six but there's no way I'm committing to a case of something I haven't tried.

Thankfully the laws are finally starting to erode and you can buy six-packs and even individual beers at select grocery stores, but there's still a ways to go before they'll ever be somewhat normal.

I disagree with this Chez. Also the banning of drinking in the street in the west coast of scotland has defo made a difference to the violence that happened on a regular basis here.
Ages 18-21 should only be allowed to drink if an adult is present as a compromise.
Is it true that most states does not allow ppl to drink in the street?

Company's should be forced to put up a % to help the unfortunate addicts. Most people believe addiction is a disease so therefore the industry should be forced to provide facilities to help the affected & family's involved.

"most states" like America? It's almost never legal to drink in the street in the US. I think Las Vegas and New Orleans are the only large exceptions.

This isn't a problem in other parts of Europe, which makes me think there's something particular to the UK that causes it.

You can in downtown St. Louis, at least during baseball games.

I don't think it's legal. KC does allow it in the 9 block Power and Light District though.

Inside a baseball park is another story. Obviously you can drink at most baseball games. You almost have to.

(just kidding sorta. I'm not a big sports fan anymore, but baseball is my least unfavorite game to watch in person.)