What Should We Do If We Don't Like You Drinking? We'll Tax You Even Further For Morality!

[ghostofdavid]

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime/ci_6628069

[nestormakhno]

Oh. My. God.

If I were an alcohol producer, I'd sue. This is a classic case of "We can't raise our own kids, so we'll get the state to tax the shit out of them to curb behavioral dissidence." Idiots.

[sdmopar]

Thats fucking bullshit! We of age drinkers are the ones getting fucked over. Looks like I will just have to stick to guinness...looks like it will be cheaper now! So now that it will be more expensive their going to stop drinking? Give me a break they'll start drinking whats cheaper like beer then we will see where this heads...It also says they should be labeled more clearly that they contain alcohol. Is it just me or are they not labeled as good as beer? I have to hunt for it on some beer cans, yet they are right up front...rant over Edited August 15, 2007 by sdmopar

[SafeSearchOff]

dude, what ass. thats complete bullshit. if i produced that line of alcohol I'd sue. you can't fucking raise taxes on a product that has overwhelming popularity with underage drinkers to get the underage drinkers to stop.

[MechAnt]

Wine coolers taste like juice...

All with the alcohol content of 2%. Wow, what a danger. So they hurt of age drinkers. A-holes

[SafeSearchOff]

i can't believe that they're taxing an item heavier because of the sales to underage drinkers, who arent even supposed to be part of your sales demographic in the first place.

tax a product to scare the illegals away, and then in term also get rid of what few remaining customers are left.
this guy must have gone to business classes/be friends with OPD

[Sonthert]

Its all part of an ongoing program to increase excise taxes, using whatever half-assed justification they can come up with. Its much easier to pass a tax on an unpopular minority (underage drinkers, smokers) than it is to pass a general tax increase. Don't blame the politicians...if people would just allow their taxes to be raised very slightly, say $50/year, many problems we face (Social Security, collapsing bridges, Lack of medical care, etc. ) would be greatly reduced.

[Persianguy]

I agree with the comments here so far. I'll even go as far to say that the "of age" concept is an illusion. I don't think there should be a minimum drinking age, it should be ok for all ages, and it'll be up to the parents to teach their kids responsibility. The "of age" concept is not set in stone. A 15 year old may be more "of age" maturity-wise to drink than alot of 25 year olds. So thats why I think its silly to put a magic age marker on the limit of drinking.

No ban is going to stop kids from getting it, infact, it will make them more determined. A lot of them do it because they think "it's cool". Well, if they could buy it any place, at any time, and their parents didn't care, i'm pretty sure it would fall out of popularity, especially if it was as easily available as a box of Altoids, lol. I mean whats more alluring to kids? A banned forbidden illegal drink to your age group that noone wants you to have? Or something as common as soda?

But how do we stop alcohol abuse in teens and pre-teens you might ask? No law can do this. Substance abuse, or addictions/abuses of all kinds cannot be subdued by legal bans or taxes. We shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking that banning such items gives us an aura of morality.

[Foos]

I agree with the comments here so far. I'll even go as far to say that the "of age" concept is an illusion. I don't think there should be a minimum drinking age, it should be ok for all ages, and it'll be up to the parents to teach their kids responsibility. The "of age" concept is not set in stone. A 15 year old may be more "of age" maturity-wise to drink than alot of 25 year olds. So thats why I think its silly to put a magic age marker on the limit of drinking.

I think not having an age limit on alcohol poses some serious health risks especially when a 10 year old kid could go buy a bottle of vodka. But if you think 10 year olds and younger know how to handle their booze then sure, no age limit would be great!

[Persianguy]

I think not having an age limit on alcohol poses some serious health risks especially when a 10 year old kid could go buy a bottle of vodka. But if you think 10 year olds and younger know how to handle their booze then sure, no age limit would be great!

I don't subscribe to the idea of letting 10 year olds drink. As I said, much of the responsibility will be on the parents to teach their kids responsibility, it seems thats the hard part

[Foos]

I don't think there should be a minimum drinking age, it should be ok for all ages,

You dont subscribe to the idea of 10 year olds drinking but you do however subscribe to the idea of all ages drinking?

[SafeSearchOff]

there was a study done, it showed that if you give your kids alcohol for as long as they remember, they won't react as poorly when in a teen drinking environment. pretty much the concensus was if you can get beer easily at home, why go through so much trouble, and why get absolutely shitfaced?

[Johnny_D]

I am led, but have no data to backup, that problems of 'teen binge drinking' are significantly less
in countries where with-meal drinking is the norm.

Italy, France, Spain

However I cannot directly substantiate this.

JD

[Persianguy]

You dont subscribe to the idea of 10 year olds drinking but you do however subscribe to the idea of all ages drinking?

I advocated the removal of an age limit in terms of legality. Teaching kids when and where to drink would fall into the "responsibility" area. And going to extremes saying things like "You are saying 1-8 year olds should drink!" really doesn't say much for common sense.... Edited August 20, 2007 by Persianguy

[Johnny_D]

In my own house my daughters will have a glass of wine along with dinner.

My eldest will have a little more than my youngest (whom i normally mix with a little lemonade)

The biggest problem, I believe, is that when you introduce a barrier in the forum of legal drinking age that kids just love to break the rules.

However this also creates a problem impossible to resolve. If you lowered the age 14, does one really want
to see 15 years old's sitting in bars?

Of course when I was 15 it was oh-so-big-and-clever to sit in the bar and order pints.

All I can hope is that my own approach [Similar to that of the countries i mentioned earlier] Will yield the positive results I yearn for. I guess only time will tell.

JD

[SafeSearchOff]

I'm a huge advocate of letting kids start drinking young... but then again i am young myself.

anyway, think about it this way. you have a kid who has been drinking since he was like 5, wine at dinner, and as he/she gets progressively older, kick back have a beer with dad, etc. now kid 1 goes to a party. kid 2 only drinks at parties since its his only chance. he's super excited to have beer. kid 2 approaches kid 1 and is like "DUDDDDDEEEE! BEEER! LETS GET SHITFACED WHOOO!". Kid 1 is just like "uhh... beer? i can have that shit at home, son!" it wont seem as fun for kid 1 to get shitfaced at a party if he can get shitfaced at home too.

[Persianguy]

zomg....people aren't talking about hookahs, ban them admin! o noez o noez o noezzzzzz, where's the ban?

[SafeSearchOff]

this isnt the hookah discussion forum. the Serious and General discuession forums are for casual/serious topics NOT related to hookah (well sometimes they are).

[Persianguy]

this isnt the hookah discussion forum. the Serious and General discuession forums are for casual/serious topics NOT related to hookah (well sometimes they are).

I know man, but check out my latest thread, I show the message where the admin is getting ready to ban me for not talking about hookahs...and this is even after he said my thread could stay up if it was just about Persians....lol

[Sonthert]

I hid some posts that were off topic, complaining about procedures at the Forum, by Persian Guy, and one being a response by SafeSearchOff, that was answering his contentions.

[nestormakhno]

I'm a huge advocate of letting kids start drinking young... but then again i am young myself.

anyway, think about it this way. you have a kid who has been drinking since he was like 5, wine at dinner, and as he/she gets progressively older, kick back have a beer with dad, etc. now kid 1 goes to a party. kid 2 only drinks at parties since its his only chance. he's super excited to have beer. kid 2 approaches kid 1 and is like "DUDDDDDEEEE! BEEER! LETS GET SHITFACED WHOOO!". Kid 1 is just like "uhh... beer? i can have that shit at home, son!" it wont seem as fun for kid 1 to get shitfaced at a party if he can get shitfaced at home too.

Hahaha, I was totally kid 1. I <3 my foreign parents.

[Sonthert]

BACK on topic. Japan consumes much alcohol, but has low rates of alcoholism.

Also, check into legal drinking ages. Most countries, around the world, have legal drinking ages...most of them are 18. 95+% I would estimate are over the age of 16.

[Foos]

I agree that letting your kids drink at a younger age, before they start partying is a good idea only because my parents let me do it. I found my limits early on and most of my friends parents felt the same way and even let us have parties while they were home. When I go to parties now theres always one or two people who drink way to much and end up praying to the porcelain gods for most the night. And almost every time that happens its the person whos parents were real strict about drinking under age who feel like there "getting away" with something while drinking and end up consuming more then they can handle. My parents tought me how to pace myself and drink water during the night, I get drunk, but never too drunk. I also think the reason most european countries have lower drinking ages is because they tend to have better public transportation. I spent 6 months in Stockholm Sweden where the drinking age in bars and clubs in 18 and at the end of the night there was always busses to take us home. In the states depending on where you live that kind of convenience isnt readily available so people have to drive. Im not a fan of the drinking age now but I do understand the reasoning behind it.

[The King]

I dont know, i drink, I'm 17. Lookin back though drinking as like a freshman was just kinda stupid, it was always irresponsable shit. I think a 16 and up but not in publics alright.... its hard to say just because you always have people that can't handle their liquor and start fights and shit.

Could just be because Im in America, but we seem to have the most underage alcohol crimes and DUI's and stuff. The fact that its against the rules makes it all more appealing to a 15 year old.

Also, underage DUI's would decrease if it were legal I believe. As an adult you get shitfaced and you can call a buddy, take a cab, or whatever. A kid can't expect to come home in a taxi or without their car without a risk of being in trouble. My parents know, but kind of avoid the conflict as long as I don't fuck up.

[FURsAKeN]

I do agree that the increased tax upon the popular drinks among the under aged is down right wrong. I'll admit I enjoy those kinds of drinks like "Sparks" and "Rockstar 21", they are very mellow drinks if your not a person sensitive to caffeine. I agree with persianguy that you cannot get rid of abuse of any substance nor curb the amount of underage users for a particular substance, by implementing taxes, laws, ect.
Everything with underage drinking starts at home, I mean let’s face it; when you sneaked out of the house late at night to go party and drink with your friends you did it because it was fun and subconsciously it was defying your parents and laws. Should there be a drinking age limit, yes. Teens will drink regardless of the rules set in front of them; hell I drank more then I should when I was 16. I think if you buy your kid the beer or liquor, the temptation to go out and get completely slaughtered is going to be drastically less. SearchSafeOff was damn well correct with kid 1 and 2. By 18 my dad started to buy me booze, and the appeal of getting drunk wasn't as great as it was. My dad figured he would rather me get drunk at home then go do it at someone’s house and get behind the wheel.
I think parents need to take more responsibility in being a parent and quit making scapegoats for their short comings or lack of parenting. What’s the fun of doing something that most parents frown upon when your parents just let you do it? Hell life is about learning from mistakes and some consequences come further down the road, let a teen choose from him/herself can't be there to protect them forever.