Should alcohol be banned based on available evidence?

jasonmcco · 19-11-2012 03:25PM #1

http://alcoholireland.ie/alcohol-facts/alcohol-related-harm-facts-and-statistics/

I think it should be up for discussion in the light of the growing calls for marijauna to be legalised.

In addition to this if you think it should be legal to sell alcohol do you think it should be legal to sell marijauna?

hatrickpatrick · 19-11-2012 03:27PM

Consenting adults should not be legally prevented from doing anything which affects only those who are consenting, IMO

krudler · 19-11-2012 03:28PM

It worked so well in the 20's in America.

bobs knobs · 19-11-2012 03:28PM

coffee is more dangerous than weed. ban harder drinks like vodka etc and legalize weed i say.

AnarchistKen · 19-11-2012 03:30PM

No beer and no TV make Homer go....something....something...

jester77 · 19-11-2012 03:32PM

Look at the countries where alcohol is prohibited. They are not exactly paradises, maybe a bit of alcohol might even help them chill a bit. Not exactly what we should be aspiring to!

keithclancy · 19-11-2012 03:34PM

Weed stinks, some of the stronger strains actually make be feel sick if I get a bang of it walking down the street.

I don't mind as long as you do it in your own home (I won't be calling around) , I think it should be banned in public places though.

Neighbour plants smelt manky during the summer.

Beer is also banned for consumption in public places, but it doesn't stink.

Spunge · 19-11-2012 03:34PM

If it was only discovered right now, there wouldn't be much to argue against it.
However its too ingrained into society for it to actually work and not just be a huge failure.

Yakult · 19-11-2012 03:35PM

Nah it should stay the way it is and legalize cannabis. What needs to change is the attitude towards drink. The facts are there for everyone to see, its causes quiet amount of problems yet poor old cannabis gets a right doing, cant recall anyone ever dying to smoking too much of it, can you?

keithclancy wrote: »

Beer is also banned for consumption in public places, but it doesn't stink.

But the piss/puke on doorsteps/street from idiots the next morning is pretty bad smelling..

iDave · 19-11-2012 03:36PM

Politicans dont run the country, Vintners do.

19-11-2012 03:36PM

No, because it would take a lot of the enjoyment out of living.

Tombi! · 19-11-2012 03:36PM

What I'm seeing from that website is that Ireland's attitude towards drinking is the problem.
If I want to drink myself into a hangover the next morning in the privacy of my own home, let me do it.

DazMarz · 19-11-2012 03:37PM

If alcohol was made illegal, it would simply give criminals another product to market. In the USA in the 1920's, Prohibition gave rise to organised crime and they welcomed it with open arms.

In every society there are desires for a certain commodities. If those commodities cannot be supplied through legitimate means, someone will step in to provide them illegitimately. Once there is a demand, someone will create a supply. It is an economic certainty.

The risk:reward ratio also comes into play. Why do you think people risk getting sent to prison for supplying illegal narcotics? Because the reward they can gain (ie. money) outstrips the risk. And it is like trying to fight a hydra; arrest one drug dealer and destroy his operation, a few more will spring up to fill the gap that has been left.

There is nothing to gain from making alcohol illegal, except for enterprising criminals who will make an absolute killing in providing cheap, dangerous liquor to the public at large.

mrDerek · 19-11-2012 03:38PM

lol its not such a simple question should it be banned as the single biggest income for the government would be dead over night.

Yakult · 19-11-2012 03:38PM

Exactly, prohibition does not favor anyone other than the criminals.

bobs knobs · 19-11-2012 03:40PM

restrict the age for buying spirits maybe but not beer!!

keithclancy · 19-11-2012 03:40PM

Yakult wrote: »

But the piss/puke on doorsteps/street from idiots the next morning is pretty bad smelling..

Thats an Irish problem, isn't such an issue over here.

iamstop · 19-11-2012 03:41PM

AnarchistKen wrote: »

No beer and no TV make Homer go....something....something...

One of the most misquoted lines ever from The Simpsons. There is no 'go' in the line Homer says.

Marge finishes his sentence by saying "go crazy?"

Homer: Don't mind if I do. *does crazy sh1t*

Pedantic boy accepts your apology. :pac:

jasonmcco · 19-11-2012 03:45PM

jester77 wrote: »

Look at the countries where alcohol is prohibited. They are not exactly paradises, maybe a bit of alcohol might even help them chill a bit. Not exactly what we should be aspiring to!

We are talking about banning alcohol not becoming muslim.
Did you have a look at link provided?

Question again, based on evidence available about problems associated with alcohol do you think it should be banned?

mathepac · 19-11-2012 03:47PM

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Consenting adults should not be legally prevented from doing anything which affects only those who are consenting, IMO

i if you're locked or stoned and can't go to work, that's OK?

If you're locked or stoned (whitey) and throw up all over the bus or taxi or restaurant, that's OK too?

If you're locked or stoned and injure yourself in a fall or trip and break a bone you don't want an ambulance, doctor or hospital called?

If you die because you choke on your own vomit, we should tell your family & friends that it's OK and not to be upset?

If you injure or kill someone in a drunken brawl or run someone down when you're stoned at the wheel, that's OK too because you are exercising your freedom?

No to legalising any other "recreational drugs" until we sort out the social and medical disaster that is alcohol consumption.

mathepac · 19-11-2012 03:51PM

bobs knobs wrote: »

restrict the age for buying spirits maybe but not beer!!

21 for both, ID produced for each order and for entry to licensed premises as in some parts of the US.

keithclancy wrote: »

Thats an Irish problem, isn't such an issue over here.

Not uniquely Irish, the Brits have it too but in greater measure.

TPD · 19-11-2012 03:53PM

mathepac wrote: »

i if you're locked or stoned and can't go to work, that's OK?

If you're locked or stoned (whitey) and throw up all over the bus or taxi or restaurant, that's OK too?

If you're locked or stoned and injure yourself in a fall or trip and break a bone you don't want an ambulance, doctor or hospital called?

If you die because you choke on your own vomit, we should tell your family & friends that it's OK and not to be upset?

If you injure or kill someone in a drunken brawl or run someone down when you're stoned at the wheel, that's OK too because you are exercising your freedom?

No to legalising any other "recreational drugs" until we sort out the social and medical disaster that is alcohol consumption.

Do you actually believe that anyone thinks these examples would be OK?

mathepac · 19-11-2012 03:54PM

jasonmcco wrote: »

... Question again, based on evidence available about problems associated with alcohol do you think it should be banned?

As a first step we need to enforce the laws we have - don't serve drunks, don't serve children / underage drinkers, no drinking on the streets, no drunkenness on the streets.

If that doesn't work then consider banning it.

jasonmcco · 19-11-2012 03:56PM

Spunge wrote: »

If it was only discovered right now, there wouldn't be much to argue against it.
However its too ingrained into society for it to actually work and not just be a huge failure.

Were not intelligent enough to remove a dangerous substance from society

I think that is an argument primarily used by users to end discussion.

keithclancy · 19-11-2012 03:57PM

mathepac wrote: »

i if you're so fat that you can't go to work, that's OK?

If you eat too much chocolate and throw up all over the bus or taxi or restaurant, that's OK too?

If your a complete fatty and you injure yourself in a fall or trip and break a bone you don't want an ambulance, doctor or hospital called?

If you die because you choke on your own vomit, we should tell your family & friends that it's OK and not to be upset?

If you eat someone in a drunken eating frenzy or run someone down when you're eating chocolate at the wheel, that's OK too because you are exercising your freedom?

No to legalising any other "recreational drugs" until we sort out the social and medical disaster that is chocolate consumption.

Ban Chocolate ?
:pac::pac::pac::pac:

Porkchop McGee · 19-11-2012 03:59PM

Alcohol isn't the problem, it's your average Irish gob****e's attitude towards it which is.

bobs knobs · 19-11-2012 03:59PM

mathepac wrote: »

21 for both, ID produced for each order and for entry to licensed premises as in some parts of the US.

so 21 is grand for a bottle of absynth? i say learn to crawl before you can walk.

mathepac · 19-11-2012 04:00PM

TPD wrote: »

Do you actually believe that anyone thinks these examples would be OK?

I am responding to a poster who thinks being a consenting drinker amongst other consenting drinkers is OK. I am challenging that thinking. Does this pose you some insurmountable intellectual dilemma?

Drunks & stoners must at some stage come into contact with others who are not in their intoxicated state. Is it OK with you if their behaviour when intoxicated effects our lives?

Boombastic · 19-11-2012 04:04PM

Yes. It's a gateway drug and most people who drink it are alcoholics.

19-11-2012 04:05PM

mathepac wrote: »

Drunks & stoners must at some stage come into contact with others who are not in their intoxicated state. Is it OK with you if their behaviour when intoxicated effects our lives?

Stoners being notoriously energetic and fighty.

mathepac · 19-11-2012 04:09PM

bobs knobs wrote: »

so 21 is grand for a bottle of absynth? i say learn to crawl before you can walk.

I have no idea what absynth is. Maybe you mean absinthe and I say maybe you should use more water and the appropriate stirring device before further consumption.

Most of the myths surrounding absinthe consumption are just that, myths - or is that meths?

Should alcohol be banned based on available evidence?

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