Alcohol in your family

[Cat]

Our favorite tradition which has been in the family for many a years is to make booze balls. Basically it’s chocolate, vanilla, and liquor(Grand Marnier, Brandy, and dark Rum). You keep the different liquors/liqueurs separate of course. This is just rough out line of it though. The real recipe we keep secret. Another tradition that I’ve started is wine making. I’m actually putting a bottle in fair to be judged.

Personally I don’t think the legal possession and purchase age need to be lowered. What does need to happen is people need to become more responsible with alcohol(young and old).

Boldface mine–how do you think this will happen? Ideas?

 

[mrpathetic]

Boldface mine–how do you think this will happen? Ideas?

In many Euro countries, DUI is a serious criminal offense. First offenders typically have to serve real jail time.

I would gladly pay more taxes, if we had similar laws in the U.S.

 

[stringbeanduck]

Boldface mine–how do you think this will happen? Ideas?

Education: I know many kids out there who are well educated about. Course there are those who don’t care and do it anyways, but it appears(at least in my area) those who don’t abuse alcohol are in the majority and look down upon those who do. Todays teens will be in adulthood 10 years from. Having them learn the do’s and don’ts of alcohal now has an impact that far down the road. It’s not a 100% solution, but it does help. If they effort is made today the results will show years down the road.

 

[Cat]

Education: I know many kids out there who are well educated about. Course there are those who don’t care and do it anyways, but it appears(at least in my area) those who don’t abuse alcohol are in the majority and look down upon those who do. Todays teens will be in adulthood 10 years from. Having them learn the do’s and don’ts of alcohal now has an impact that far down the road. It’s not a 100% solution, but it does help. If they effort is made today the results will show years down the road.

Education will stop alcohol abuse among teenagers just like it’s stopped teenagers from having sex.

I’m sorry, stringbeanduck, I’m being sarcastic with you, and that’s mean of me.

I don’t agree that education will make a big difference. It may reach some teens and some college students, but in the past 40 years, there has been a great deal of alcohol education in the public schools and on the free television networks and in the print media. Celebrities have been on board with this, urging teens not to drink or take drugs. There have been teen-created and college-created ad campaigns (colleges in particular have tried to discourage binge drinking, which occasionally leads to death).

It doesn’t seem to have done squat-patootie to stop alcohol abuse among college students and young adults.

I honestly don’t know the answer to my own question. I agree with mrpathetic that we definitely need some stricter penalties, but the problem with that is enforcement is nearly impossible, especially when so MANY people drive with an increased blood-alcohol level. I work in a hospital lab among educated health care professionals who can tell you all the scientific facts about alcohol abuse. Yet, they still drive after they’ve had too much to drink, and then they come to work and share their stories ("God, I was so drunk, I’m just lucky a cop didn’t pull me over!) and everyone laughs.

I personally believe that lawyers and judges drink and drive, too. It’s almost impossible in the U.S. to get anywhere without driving, and most people drink, so it makes sense that a lot of people will drive home with elevated blood alcohol levels that may impair their judgement.

Personally, I think one answer is to HIRE non-drinkers like me and my husband to DRIVE people home from bars. My dad used to get free food and soft drinks from bars because he would drive his buddies hom. I would take this job for free food.

Also, I truly believe that non-drinkers should NOT have to pay ANYTHING for car insurance, and that everyone else ought to have to pay through the nose–I’m talking a tenth of their income or more for auto insurance. I’m talking pay 'til hit hurts. FREE insurance for teetotalers, with full coverage. Money talks. Give people a motive not to drink, and give non-drinkers a reward for being so weird and counter-cultural.

But those are just a few of my ideas. I can’t say for certain if they would work. One thing’s for sure–what we’re doing now isn’t working. People abuse alcohol, including people who think they don’t abuse alcohol.

 

[stringbeanduck]

Like I said, it’s not a solution, but it helps. And I do believe if there weren’t programs to discourage alcohol abuse and drunk driving, the world would be worse place. Even if it doesn’t stop all of it, isn’t it better to have less abusers and than more? More needs to happen, I agree, but I’m not the guy with all the answers. All I do know is that if I don’t drink and drive or drink then drive, that will be one less potential accident. The times I do drink(which isn’t often) I’ve always refrain from driving soon afterwards. For now, that’s all the "solution” to the problem as I can offer.

 

[mrpathetic]

Education will stop alcohol abuse among teenagers just like it’s stopped teenagers from having sex.

I’m sorry, stringbeanduck, I’m being sarcastic with you, and that’s mean of me.

Simple, but costly solution:

Have DUI checkpoints on every road across America. Have mandatory breathalizer tests for everyone the cops pull over. If they find you driving over the limit, it is a year in prison, minimum. Repeat offenders will receive stiffer fines.

Do this day after day, year after year, until all the drunks are locked up, off the roads, where they could wipe out my family.

Once the drunks are in prison, their alcohol abuse will stop, and they definitely will not be driving under the influence. Inmates in prison do not have alcohol or cars.

 

[Cat]

Simple, but costly solution:

Have DUI checkpoints on every road across America. Have mandatory breathalizer tests for everyone the cops pull over. If they find you driving over the limit, it is a year in prison, minimum. Repeat offenders will receive stiffer fines.

Do this day after day, year after year, until all the drunks are locked up, off the roads, where they could wipe out my family.

Once the drunks are in prison, their alcohol abuse will stop, and they definitely will not be driving under the influence. Inmates in prison do not have alcohol or cars.

Like I said, I think that you would find that most of the U.S. would be in prison. A lot of people have a few drinks, allow an hour or so to pass, then get in the car and drive. For some people, those few hours of waiting are enough time for the alcohol to be out of the bloodstream. But for others, it’s not enough time, and they would be found “under the influence” by the DUI checkpoint.

I think a lot more people who are willing to admit it do NOT allow a few hours to pass after drinking before they get in the car and drive home. And many of these people would definitely be found “under the influence” by the DUI checkpoint.

A lot of the blood alcohols that we do in the lab are very near the legal limit, but they’re still considered over the limit, and that would be enough to put someone in jail if an automatic jail sentence was imposed.

Hey, I agree with you, it would sure stop drinking and driving if a daddy or mommy with a 0.12 blood EtOH was thrown in the clink! But there would be so many daddies and mommies in jail! That would cost a lot of money and result in a lot of foster children with no where to go.

And you know, I think the people who are determined to drive drunk would keep driving drunk anyway, and they wouldn’t get caught at the DUI checkpoint. They would eventually kill a whole family, and only then would they be caught.

So we’re back at Square One.

If only Barack Obama didn’t drink alcohol. I think a lot of people who admire him would possibly follow his example. OTOH, Pres. Bush was a teetotaler (after giving alcohol up because it was ruining his life), and most people did not try to be like him.

It’s my opinion that the one thing that might work is if the entertainment media embarked on a deliberate campaign to make drinking alcohol look like something that only turds do. If every television show, every movie, every novel, every song (especially pop, hip hop, and rap songs) carried a “no alcohol” or “alcohol is stupid” message, it might just become part of culture, and people might stop drinking because it is so un-cool and un-couth. In the U.S., we are more likely to listen to and obey a movie star or rock star than we are likely to listen to parents, cops, teachers, doctors, or others in authority.

But how likely is it that Hollywood would do this?? Ha ha ha. About as likely as if they started being respectful of Christianity.

At least my favorite actor is a teetotaler (after going through 12 steps).

 

[DL82]

Simple, but costly solution:

Have DUI checkpoints on every road across America. Have mandatory breathalizer tests for everyone the cops pull over. If they find you driving over the limit, it is a year in prison, minimum. Repeat offenders will receive stiffer fines.

Do this day after day, year after year, until all the drunks are locked up, off the roads, where they could wipe out my family.

Once the drunks are in prison, their alcohol abuse will stop, and they definitely will not be driving under the influence. Inmates in prison do not have alcohol or cars.

We’ve pretty much put an end to drunk driving in the UK with harsh penalties (it’s not a mandatory jail term, but you lose your license for a year minimum, have to re-sit your test, with heavy fines and a lifetime ban and jail time for repeat offenders), heavy publicity, and mandatory breathalizer tests (I can’t believe American police still use the ‘walk in a line’ test when there are such simple scientific tests like a breathalizer or urine sample).

Of course, the other side of this is good public transport links and taxis running late into the night.

There was a time when drunk driving was looked upon like speeding, you just got a telling off, now drunk drivers are looked down on like the scum that they are. Drunk driving is like walking into a mall blindfolded and taking pot shots with a gun.

There’s a huge difference between drinking, even problem drinking, and driving while drunk. Drinking - fine, problem drinking - your problem, drunk driving - potential murder.

 

[mrpathetic]

We’ve pretty much put an end to drunk driving in the UK with harsh penalties (it’s not a mandatory jail term, but you lose your license for a year minimum, have to re-sit your test, with heavy fines and a lifetime ban and jail time for repeat offenders), heavy publicity, and mandatory breathalizer tests (I can’t believe American police still use the ‘walk in a line’ test when there are such simple scientific tests like a breathalizer or urine sample).

Some municipalities use the breathalizer tests, and some use the blood tests, which are even more accurate.

Some backwards, arcane municipalities do use the non-standard methods, such as touch your nose, walk a straight line, recite the alphabet backwards, etc. Obviously, those municipalities need to get with the 20th century - now that we are in the 21st century.

And criminal penalites for DUI have increased in the U.S., over the past 20 years. But they do need to get tougher, in my opinion.

 

[Cat]

We’ve pretty much put an end to drunk driving in the UK with harsh penalties (it’s not a mandatory jail term, but you lose your license for a year minimum, have to re-sit your test, with heavy fines and a lifetime ban and jail time for repeat offenders), heavy publicity, and mandatory breathalizer tests (I can’t believe American police still use the ‘walk in a line’ test when there are such simple scientific tests like a breathalizer or urine sample).

Of course, the other side of this is good public transport links and taxis running late into the night.

There was a time when drunk driving was looked upon like speeding, you just got a telling off, now drunk drivers are looked down on like the scum that they are. Drunk driving is like walking into a mall blindfolded and taking pot shots with a gun.

There’s a huge difference between drinking, even problem drinking, and driving while drunk. Drinking - fine, problem drinking - your problem, drunk driving - potential murder.

Here’s the problem in the U.S.–a person has to give their permission, usually in writing, for any lab testing. And even though drunks are impaired in their judgment, most of them are clever enough to realize that the longer they wait to grant permission, the more likely it is that the alcohol will clear out of the blood or urine. So they stall around, and stall, and stall–often they will call a lawyer, who will be at their side advising them to NOT allow any testing. Snakes.

And then when we finally get the sample, hey, guess what? It’s negative.

And then the cops get sued for harassment, false arrest, etc.

Another problem is keeping the chain of custody intact. A “legal” blood alcohol has a procedure that must be followed exactly, or a good lawyer (or even a bad lawyer) can knock it out of evidence in a court of law. It’s a pain in the butt for cops who are trying to deal with the scene of the drunken driving incident.

Lawyers in the U.S. can pull off almost anything. There can be a hundred witnesses that a person drank themselves into a stupor, got behind a wheel, and plowed into a family, killing them all. But a good lawyer can prove that it was the FAMILY’S fault for stepping in front of the drunk driver. Ssssnakes.

 

[mrpathetic]

Exactly.

Here is a lawyer in Texas, who has built his entire practice on helping people skate on DUI charges. He advises the general public to put his phone number in their cell phone directory. That way, when you are pulled over by the cops, he can tell you what to do, to avoid the breathalizer of field sobriety tests:

texasdwilaw.com/

He claims that both breathalizer and field sobriety tests are unreliable and/or unconstitutional.

He runs radio adds constantly in the Houston market. Whenever I hear them, blood starts shooting out of my eyes. God knows how many people have gotten liquored up, gotten behind the wheel, and drove down the freeway - safe in the knowledge that the “Texas DWI Lawyer” will help them skate.

These lawyers aren’t just snakes. They are Boa Constrictors!