MA: Freedom to Consume Alcohol in Public Bill (Failed)

Quote from: Governor of the Mideast A-Bob on February 04, 2011, 05:02:53 pm

I'm still slightly skeptic of this bill, though it is much better than the original. I agree with Inks of making possession and consumption an unenforced law so that the police can and will arrest those who are getting rowdy, disturbing others, etc. but those who are drinking responsibly and not causing any problems are allowed to drink in public.

Well my argument would naturally be that you don't need alcohol to behave badly in public. I know that in my RL town there are groups of young people that will roam the streets during the evenings, behaving loudly and intimidating, even without alcohol. Now their behavour is according to the law perfectly fine, even though it's extremly morally objectable. While on the other hand you have people who in the summer have a barbeque party in the park and who will drink a beer or two, who behaves as good as ever, but their actions are illegal, and they are illegal no matter how strictly the police decides to enforce it.

What I'm saying here is that it's not the alcohol that's the problem, but the way people use it.

I would like to make a comperation to gun control. Now there are a few people out there who acts like it's the gun itself that's the problem. It's not only the action of shooting a person, that they find objectable, it's owning a gun in the first place. Personally I think that's flawed thinking. It's not carrying the gun that should be illegal, it's using it to shoot an innocent person that should be. Likewise with alcohol. It's not drinking it in public that should be illegal, it's the behavoiur it might (but not always) lead to that should be illegal.

I'd also like to claim that what this bill would do is exactly to give police the ability to enforce good standards of behavoir. While the old law technically mandates police officers to arrest all and everyone that consume alcohol in public (granted we all now this isn't done) this law says that drinking in public is alright, as long as you don't get intoxicated. Now people that do behave badly in public due to alcohol are in most cases already beyond what is considered intoxication. So what this bill would do is to basicly say "drinking in public is alright, but if you get drunk and starts behaving like an idiot, we'll still bust you." In other, it won't do anything but to adjust the Mideast Statue to reality.

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