7 ms·

Does everything in America need to be healthy in order for it to be legal? Is that why the alcohol lobby so badly wants to prove that booze is good for us?

mikenew 9y ago
No, but "you should drink alcohol every day" and "you should not drink alcohol every day" makes a massive difference in how much alcohol you can sell.
dsfyu404ed 9y ago
If you use the "don't wire brush your grill" thread as your ruler anything that could possibly be harmful to consumers whether used properly or not should be illegal.
24gttghh 9y ago
Our history of outright Prohibition might have something to do with it.
PurpleBoxDragon 9y ago
Depends on who is being hurt. Given the issue of drunk driving killing children, and given the current push to restrict rights to save children, I think informing the public of the number of children killed because of alcohol is important so that we can push for banning it (not a total ban, but a ban of the most dangerous stuff, which I will begin calling assault alcohol).
- ch4s3 9y ago
  > given the current push to restrict rights to save children What do you mean by that?
  - PurpleBoxDragon 9y ago
    Admittingly based off of personal experience and limited to US culture, but I have seen/read a recent uptick in the number of people arguing we should restrict rights when those rights might lead to the death of children, including a number of decent sized rallies.
    - digi_owl 9y ago
      Sounds like a variant of the age old "think of the children" meme...
- francisofascii 9y ago
  I think heavier taxes and more limits would be a better approach rather than a ban. Similar to smoking. In America we used to have to go to special stores only open certain hours. Alcohol is everywhere now, grocery stores, commercials, etc. Ideally there is a middle ground between prohibition and ubiquitous.
  - grandmczeb 9y ago
    > In America we used to have to go to special stores only open certain hours That was (and is) entirely state dependent.
    - kylek 9y ago
      I always thought it was kind of fascinating that dry counties "still" exist- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dry_communities_by_U.S._state https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dry_communities_by_U.S...
rm_-rf_slash 9y ago
One could argue that the current legalization and decriminalization of cannabis could not have occurred without the medical marijuana forerunners in the 90s, so there may be some merit to your argument. On the other hand, I suspect the simple profit motive is much stronger. Headlines like “Study suggests one glass of red wine per day reduces heart disease risk” is music to a winery’s ears.

mikenew 9y ago

No, but "you should drink alcohol every day" and "you should not drink alcohol every day" makes a massive difference in how much alcohol you can sell.

dsfyu404ed 9y ago

If you use the "don't wire brush your grill" thread as your ruler anything that could possibly be harmful to consumers whether used properly or not should be illegal.

24gttghh 9y ago

Our history of outright Prohibition might have something to do with it.

PurpleBoxDragon 9y ago

Depends on who is being hurt. Given the issue of drunk driving killing children, and given the current push to restrict rights to save children, I think informing the public of the number of children killed because of alcohol is important so that we can push for banning it (not a total ban, but a ban of the most dangerous stuff, which I will begin calling assault alcohol).

ch4s3 9y ago
> given the current push to restrict rights to save children What do you mean by that?
- PurpleBoxDragon 9y ago
  Admittingly based off of personal experience and limited to US culture, but I have seen/read a recent uptick in the number of people arguing we should restrict rights when those rights might lead to the death of children, including a number of decent sized rallies.
  - digi_owl 9y ago
    Sounds like a variant of the age old "think of the children" meme...
francisofascii 9y ago
I think heavier taxes and more limits would be a better approach rather than a ban. Similar to smoking. In America we used to have to go to special stores only open certain hours. Alcohol is everywhere now, grocery stores, commercials, etc. Ideally there is a middle ground between prohibition and ubiquitous.
- grandmczeb 9y ago
  > In America we used to have to go to special stores only open certain hours That was (and is) entirely state dependent.
  - kylek 9y ago
    I always thought it was kind of fascinating that dry counties "still" exist- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dry_communities_by_U.S._state https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dry_communities_by_U.S...

rm_-rf_slash 9y ago

One could argue that the current legalization and decriminalization of cannabis could not have occurred without the medical marijuana forerunners in the 90s, so there may be some merit to your argument. On the other hand, I suspect the simple profit motive is much stronger. Headlines like “Study suggests one glass of red wine per day reduces heart disease risk” is music to a winery’s ears.