Jan 07 2009
more on drinking from the utah senate
we’re fortunate here in utah that most of our state government body has embraced social media. from senatesite.com:
It’s likely someone in your current circle of family and friends is still alive today because of those unique laws [utah alcohol regulation laws]. If we mimic other states’ law we may soon mimic their fatality rates.
we don’t have low alcohol-related fatality rates because of our alcohol laws; we have low alcohol-related fatality rates because the 80 percent (source: google [an inside joke]) of utah’s population is LDS. how can we statistically prove the laws in utah, as they stand, have affected alcohol-related fatalities?
we can’t.
here’s something i DO agree with (in part):
1. We’re concerned by violence done by impaired drivers on Utah streets.
2. We’re concerned by the harmful impact of underage drinking.
3. At some level we’re concerned by the harmful effects of overconsumption.
i’m not sure i would use the term “violence” as they used it in the first point there, but i’m concerned about all of these things. but i’m also concerned about the protection of my rights. i want my private information to be kept private. i want to make my own choices.
particularly of note…the comment left by dominique. i’ll copy and paste it here…
Dear Senator Waddoups:
As I read the KSL article in regards to the alcohol legislation you are proposing, I was truly amazed at how backward thinking this legislation really is.
I was reared in a large Mormon family in Northern Utah. Alcohol was forbidden in our home. We were not even allowed to discuss alcohol. Whenever a TV show had alcohol, the evils of alcohol were reiterated and often the channel was changed. I know this took place in most of my close friends’ home as well.
In spite of “hiding” alcohol from all of us, my group of LDS friends had an incredibly high amount of alcohol abuse. Alcohol became, literally, the forbidden fruit that everyone would do anything to partake of. I was the designated driver, even though that term did not exist at that time. I sobered up so many of my friends and “hid” them in my bedroom so their parents, and mine, wouldn’t find out.
We knew the consequences of being found out. It wouldn’t be a good tongue lashing, although that would be included. The consequences of partaking of alcohol were physical and emotional abuse.
At 35, I took my first drink. I do have alcohol in my home. It is visible and my sons have grown up with visible alcohol in the home since their early teenage years. I drink responsibly, and never partake more than 1 ounce per hour if I know I have to drive. My children have learned from a healthy example of responsible drinking. There have been no negative experiences.
In contrast, I cannot tell you how many times one of their friends comes to our home, fearful of the same consequences of my youth. We have even had Mormon relatives come to us terrified of being “found out”. We have helped so many of them sober up and when appropriate, have helped them open a discussion with their parents and families.
Hiding alcohol is not the solution. The “alcopops” experiment has already shown signs of dismal failure. This legislation will harm, not help.
Our economy is on life support. Our health care system is in dire straights and too many of our families have no access to health care. Our infrastructure also needs attention. Too many people who fit into one of the many “other” boxes cannot find suitable employment or housing due to discrimination. We’re exploiting and plundering our non-renewable resources at unprecedented levels.
Better we find the path to health care for even the “least of these, my brethren”; we forbid housing and employment discrimination; we invest in solar and wind power so our precious non-renewable resources are used prudently; we revive our economy with jobs rebuilding our infrastructure; we educate our children to make our world a better place.
I beseech you to concentrate your intellect, your compassion, your honorable efforts, your time and talents into what really matters today.
Respectfully,
Dominique Storni
she makes a great argument, does she not?
ok, i’ll quit talking about liquor for a while. at least the laws of liquor. i reserve the right to post about my personal consumption of liquor at any time.
**edit 12:28 p.m.** this just in from thetruant.com (utah’s very own theonion.com-type newsite) go read it after you’re done here…
Stumble it!
I’m curious what the proposed alcohol legislation is that the commenter mentioned in her first sentence.
But she makes a rational argument for why we should be less concerned about spending our time on this issue than issues like the economy, health care, and energy. I’ll go ahead and throw education into that mix as well. Fix the big things first, then look at the little things.
I do not have a problem with people drinking.my problem is when they get behind the wheel of a car or truck and drive while impaired.
Driving while talking or texting on a cell phone has been shown to have the same level of ‘impairment’ to a .08 drivers ‘operating skills’. Mike do you think we should prosecute those who ‘talk and drive’ or ‘text and drive’ as agressively as we do alcohol impaired drivers? If not, why?
Here in the DC metro area. Washington DC and Maryland. It is illegal to talk on the phone while driving and also texting while driving. They need to do that everywhere. Use a bluetooth if you are going to talk on the phone. We have bluetooth in our car that we use if we are going to talk on the phone while driving. This way we have both hands on the steering wheel while driving. We rarely use it. It is used mainly if someone calls us or if we are calling the day care to tell them that we are going to be late to pick up the kid.
Great post Jess. The Truant article had me laughing out loud. As for what Tim said.. Driving while Impaired should mean doing anything that would cause you not to have your full attention on the road, that would include drinking, texting, dealing with your 6 unbuckled kids etc.
Looks like you got a hot topic going on here Jess.
I stick to my point before. THe laws just need to crack down on irresponsible drinking. I mean super hard.
Ya know, I think Utah is just trying to hold on to..the UTAH standard of living.. They don’t want to be like all the other states. Nothing wrong with that. You have to respect that right?
They just need to figure out a different way of doing it.
And really people just need to be held more accountable for actions and there mistakes. EVERYWHERE, not just good ol’ UT.
i’m flattered. *blushes*