Hi there! You are currently browsing as a guest. Why not create an account? Then you get less ads, can thank creators, post feedback, keep a list of your favourites, and more!
Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 14th Aug 2007 at 8:55 PM
Default Prohibition
Voters have a chance on Tuesday to return this northern Alabama city to the days of Prohibition.
A measure to end the sale of alcohol in Athens is up for a citywide vote, a rare instance where voters could overturn a previous vote to allow sales. Business interests are against repeal, but church leaders who helped organize the petition drive that got the measure on the ballot are asking members to pray and fast in support of a ban.
Christians who oppose drinking on moral grounds believe they have a chance to win, however small.
"If it can be voted out anywhere, it will be here because so many Christians are against it," said Teresa Thomas, who works in a Christian book store.
Business leaders argue that ending the sale of beer, wine and liquor would hurt tax revenues and send the message that Athens is backward.
"Economic impact is really the big issue," said Carl Hunt, an organizer of the pro-alcohol sale Citizens for Economic Progress.
The United States went dry in 1920 after the 18th Amendment outlawed the production, transportation and sale of alcohol. Prohibition was repealed in 1933.
Now, less than four years after they first voted to legalize alcohol sales, the nearly 22,000 residents of Athens will decide whether to prohibit alcohol sales within the city, located about 95 miles north of Birmingham. Possession and consumption would remain legal.
Such "wet-to-dry" votes aren't unheard of, but they're rare, said Jim Mosher of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, which tracks public policy issues including alcohol laws.
"In Barrow, Alaska, when they legalized alcohol sales, problems went through the roof," Mosher said. "Then, when they banned it again, it improved."
City Clerk John Hamilton didn't have an early estimate on turnout among the city's nearly 12,000 registered voters, but he said the turnout could be good based on the large number of absentee ballots cast before the polls opened.
"It's the alcohol issue that will bring the people out," he said.
Twenty-six of Alabama's 67 counties, including Limestome, where Athens is located, don't allow alcohol sales. Besides the Athens vote, residents of the southern Alabama town of Thomasville were to cast their ballots Tuesday on whether to legalize alcohol sales.
Regardless of whether Athens winds up wet or dry, a leader of the 138-year-old National Prohibition Party is glad voters have a chance to decide. Such issues rarely make it to the ballot any more, said attorney Howard Lydick, a member of the party's executive committee.
"The beer and wine industry has very good PR," Lydick said. "Those pushing (prohibition) have been pushed aside."
The Rev. Eddie Gooch feels good about the chances of ending alcohol sales in Athens, but he isn't taking any chances.
A leader of the petition drive, Gooch urged members of his United Methodist Church to pray and fast on election day and the two days leading up to it. Church volunteers have sent thousands of letters and made phone calls encouraging people to vote "dry."
Mayor Dan Williams said the city government is making nearly $250,000 in extra sales taxes directly tied to alcohol, and the city's schools get the same amount.
Besides that money, he said, overall tax revenues have grown since alcohol sales were legalized in January 2004 — an increase he attributes partly to alcohol sales.
An upscale Italian restaurant recently moved to Athens from the nearby dry city of Hartselle in order to sell alcohol, and Williams said other restaurants have arrived since it went wet.
"It's a big deal for a small town to get a new restaurant," he said.
Gooch isn't worried about the city losing businesses or tax revenues if alcohol sales are banned. Normal economic growth and God will make up any difference if residents dump the bottle, he said.
"We believe that God will honor and bless our city," Gooch said.


Is prohibition a good idea? Is it important on moral grounds to ban alcohol? Will it really stop crime if alcohol was banned?
My view is that they are near Birmingham which is huge there is no telling how many places in total sell alcohol there so I don't get the point of banning alcohol sales when you live near a major city.Also, a lot of people do drink one glass of wine or a beer with dinner and are not causing problems in the town.I don't get the moral grounds for banning alcohol.There was a lot of drinking wine in the bible.
Advertisement
Theorist
#2 Old 14th Aug 2007 at 9:20 PM
My town is dry, my town has a very low crime rate. Are the two connected? Probably not. I do have a problem with Christians who claim that drinking is sinful. Its not. EXCESSIVE drinking is, getting drunk is, but the act of drinking alcohol itself wasn't. If Jesus had a problem with consuming normal amounts of alcohol, or downing a few beers while watching football, why would His first miracle have been turning water into wine, and that at a party? The problem lies instead with overconsumption of alcohol, or really, overconsumption of ANY food or drink. The measure does not ban alcohol though, merely the sale of it. You are perfectly free to bring in alcohol from a different town, and drink it in your home. Thats what we do. My town has something similar to this measure, however, it has given out two licenses for restaurants...you can still drink alcohol, you just can't get your beer at the grocery store in town, nor are there any bars within the city limits. Its really not a big deal at all. You can't by any alcohol at all on Sundays in my county, you just learn to buy your booze Saturday night, before the 3am cutoff. In my town of 10,000, there is still plenty of drinking going on, despite not being able to buy within the city limits. Is it a stupid law? Yeah. Does it really make a whole lot of difference in my life? Nah. Its dumb, but hardly oppressive.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Obama on ABC's This Week, discussing Obamacare
What it's saying is, is that we're not going to have other people carrying your burdens for you anymore
umm...Isn't having other people carry your medical burden exactly what national health care is?
Forum Resident
#3 Old 14th Aug 2007 at 11:26 PM
From what I have read, Davious is right in what he has said.

This law is only stopping the sale of alcohol in the city, not the consumption. It is still legal to buy it out side the cities limits and transport it into the city to consume.

It's in a sense taking the "Blue Laws" to the extreme. Looks good on paper, but will hurt the city in the long run as far as taxes and businesses that will look elsewhere to open. Will it help fight crime, little, but just not worth the trouble. This is more in line with church beliefs then crime.

Tomorrow I leave for vacation, and am heading to Indy. They too have the Blue Law format. No Alcohol sales on Sunday. Strange to see liquor stores closed late at night/early morning when heading back to the hotel. In Iowa we don't have the Blue Laws and the stores are open all hours.

Erasing One Big Astounding Mistake All-around
Mad Poster
#4 Old 15th Aug 2007 at 12:49 AM
I don't like the idea of prohibition. It's not the worst thing that could happen, but it seems to me that it's just another attempt to steal our every liberty. Alcohol and alcoholism are not the sole reasons for crime, and inducing prohibition will not stop crime. It could even increase it, in fact- angry citizens could become so incensed that they resort to public displays of vandalism in protest. For some people, alcohol is a way to happiness, and prohibiting it would be infringing on a person's right to the pursuit of happiness. If prohibition is induced, the public will only start smuggling alcohol in from foreign countries. They'll get caught, they'll be sent to jail, taxes will rise to accomodate the new felons, the public will get angry... it all goes downhill from there. Prohibition shouldn't be induced; it's our money to throw away and it's our livers to ruin.

Do I dare disturb the universe?
.
| tumblr | My TS3 Photos |
Instructor
#5 Old 15th Aug 2007 at 4:10 AM
I too live in a 'dry' area - no alcohol sold in city limits. Of course, city's laid out kinda weird. You go half a block down the road from my house and you're out of city limits. Our neighborhood convenience store sells beer. It was almost repealed, but the religious nuts that control our police jury voted it down. It's stupid, really. You can go about 3-5 minutes away and buy alcohol. Anyway ... back to subject at hand.

Summary: Stupid idea, won't work, will hurt city, please read Davious and Amish Nick's replies and you'll have my view.

You can keep your knight in shining armor. I'll take my country boy in turn-out gear!
Proud single mom, firefighter's girl, and beautifully imperfect person.
Avatar is me (tall girl), my Abbi (short girl in hat), and my boyfriend James (lone man) at Abbi's Kindergarten Graduation last May.
Theorist
#6 Old 15th Aug 2007 at 4:53 AM
Quote: Originally posted by RabidAngel77
For some people, alcohol is a way to happiness, and prohibiting it would be infringing on a person's right to the pursuit of happiness.


Ummm....nothing like resorting to extremes, huh? If people need alcohol to be happy, they have serious mental problems, and should probably seek the kind of counseling not found at the bottom of a can of Budweiser.

But, considering there are lots of communities that are already dry, and there haven't been any riots, I think perhaps you exxagerate the anger of the citizens over this, slightly.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Obama on ABC's This Week, discussing Obamacare
What it's saying is, is that we're not going to have other people carrying your burdens for you anymore
umm...Isn't having other people carry your medical burden exactly what national health care is?
#7 Old 15th Aug 2007 at 6:45 AM
Waste of time... The only function it will serve is to inconvenience those who do want a drink, and I think that the business leaders are right in that it will hurt city income.

There is nothing moral or immoral about alcohol or the consumption thereof.

There were a few things that stuck out in this article:

Quote:
"In Barrow, Alaska, when they legalized alcohol sales, problems went through the roof," Mosher said. "Then, when they banned it again, it improved."


Has anybody bothered to take a look on a map at where Barrow, Alaska is? It's the northernmost settlement in the state! They are well within the arctic circle. That means that for about 4 months out of the year, they are in perpetual night. I know a few people from that state, and they have all pretty much commented that during the winter there is nothing to do except drink. Not a very good example IMO.

Quote:
"The beer and wine industry has very good PR," Lydick said. "Those pushing (prohibition) have been pushed aside."


Classic example of the fallacy of the single cause. How do they know that the reason why people don't take the concept of prohibition seriously has more to do with looking at the historical example of what happened in the 1920's as opposed to good PR on the part of the beer and wine industry?

Quote:
Gooch isn't worried about the city losing businesses or tax revenues if alcohol sales are banned. Normal economic growth and God will make up any difference if residents dump the bottle, he said.


How is that going to happen?
Test Subject
Original Poster
#8 Old 17th Aug 2007 at 4:44 PM
It failed which is good for the city.
 
Back to top