If You Drink, Don't Complain
August 2nd 2008 14:59
Alcohol has always been the most destructive substance in existence yet has found itself being socially acceptable more times than not throughout the course of history. It acts as a poison to kill off the drinkers inhibition, in other words theira bility to tell right from wrong, safe from unsane, it basically kills off the drinkers ability to reason.
It is the most dangerous substance that plagues our society, more so than cocaine or heroin, it has certainly destroyed more lives.
That said I believe the issue here is one of civil liberties, however my definition of civil liberties is not that of the classical one. There are two types of freedoms, individual and collective. Giving someone the right to drink gives them their individual freedom however it ignores collective freedoms.
When we have drunkness involved in a crime we are essentially dealing with someone who lacks inhibition. Can we blame a person for acting like an animal, or being taken advantage of if they lacked the ability to reason? However likewise, can we blame someone, can we formulate motive for crime given such circumstances? Justice cannot be properly applied where motive is in question.
My solution is simple, if you drink and are involved in comitting a crime you should be punished as if you were sober. If you are the victim of a crime in which you are drunk you have no right to complain or seek justice unless you are willing to go into a alcohol rehabilitation program.
There will be fewer women running around claiming rape simply because they are regretful of their one night stand and there will be more men thrown in prison for rape.
But such a system is not perfect, the most perfect solution is also the most simple, ban alcohol.
It is the most dangerous substance that plagues our society, more so than cocaine or heroin, it has certainly destroyed more lives.
That said I believe the issue here is one of civil liberties, however my definition of civil liberties is not that of the classical one. There are two types of freedoms, individual and collective. Giving someone the right to drink gives them their individual freedom however it ignores collective freedoms.
When we have drunkness involved in a crime we are essentially dealing with someone who lacks inhibition. Can we blame a person for acting like an animal, or being taken advantage of if they lacked the ability to reason? However likewise, can we blame someone, can we formulate motive for crime given such circumstances? Justice cannot be properly applied where motive is in question.
My solution is simple, if you drink and are involved in comitting a crime you should be punished as if you were sober. If you are the victim of a crime in which you are drunk you have no right to complain or seek justice unless you are willing to go into a alcohol rehabilitation program.
There will be fewer women running around claiming rape simply because they are regretful of their one night stand and there will be more men thrown in prison for rape.
But such a system is not perfect, the most perfect solution is also the most simple, ban alcohol.
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Comment by tlcorbin
This will never do, there are those whose digestive system produces alcohol internally after eating? You're going to attempt to enforce a one size fit's all policy?
Ref: Lindiger, W., Taucher, J., Jordan, A., and Vogel, W. Endogenous production of methanol after the consumption of fruit. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 1997, 21, 939-943; Phillips, M., Greenberg, J., and Martinez V., Ostrovsky, Y. M. Endogenous ethanol -- its metabolic, behavioral and biomedical significance. Alcohol, 1986, 3, 239-247.
Comment by Ahmed
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Without banning alcohol as a whole things like binge drinking which are socially accepted should be put in the spotlight. It's a sensitive area given the nature of it, if you ban something like alcohol then it will probably backfire, as such it's better for society to reject it slowly on its own to the point it becomes obscure.
If you look at even modern history for example, it used to be socially acceptable to abuse people of colour, however as time went on peoples attitudes towards it changed. I'd like to see a simmilar attitude change to binge drinking.
If people do have such a medical condition then obviously they'll be given exemption. Sometimes laws seve as guidelines and it is up to the judge or jury to excercise commonsense.
Comment by tlcorbin
Truly, I wish there was a solution that worked, and there may be, but I haven't a clue about what it is.
Thanks for bringing up the matter.
Comment by Ahmed
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Comment by tlcorbin
Comment by Damo
Just like the prohibition in the USA. It was simple and created organized crime.
Sometimes simple solutions are not the answer.
Comment by tlcorbin
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Comment by Damo
When I drink I find that increases my ability to complain.
Comment by Brenton
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Does not seem to make sense, as this would be a waste of time for most casual drinkers.
Comment by Ahmed
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Just because something is deemed socially acceptable does not make it safe, binge drinking is dangerous, there is no 'unless you're careful', the act of binge drinking is itself dangerous.
Comment by Brenton
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I'm not defending anything bacasue it's legal or safe. I'm saying that we can't treat dinkers who have encountered problems while drinking as problem drinkers.
Should we take an individual involved in an assault at a casino and treat them as a problem gambler?
Comment by Ahmed
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On theother hand gambling does not kill off your inhibition, if a crime is comitted you were of clear mind and therefore there was nothing you could effectively do.
Comment by Brenton
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Comment by Ahmed
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Comment by Brenton
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Comment by Ahmed
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If someone cuts himself all the time just for fun no one would find that normal, if someone binge drinks, which is far more effective in hurting your health, we turn a blind eye like it's normal.
Comment by Brenton
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MY point is that unless a person has a problematic relationship with alchohol that would be addressed by rehabilitation, it's useless, and a waste of time and money.
Comment by Ahmed
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Comment by Ahmed
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Comment by Brenton
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Secondly I'm fairly certain that even occasional binge drinking is unlikely to demonstrate a problem that would be repaired through rehabilitation for the vast majority.
Comment by Ahmed
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same thing.
That is your attitude, however medically speaking even casual binge drinkers are doing themselves a great disservice.
Comment by Brenton
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even casual binge drinkers are doing themselves a great disservice.
I don't care if they'r doing themselves a disservice or not, I'm pretty sure the science is behind me when i say It won't do any good to send them off to rehab in order to get justice.
If i have four and a half drinks (still quite capable of behaving like a reasonable human being) and someone hits me on the head, I really do not wat to be spending itime arsing around in hrehab so that I can see some thug dealt with appropriatley.
Basically I think you're makning a lot of assumptions over something that yuo're too disconected from to have a good idea of wat would work.
Comment by Ahmed
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I'm not disconnected to the issue, the issue itself is a problem with societies attitudes and not with me. You can say what you want so casually about binging as if it were nothing, but to this day it is one of the biggest problems our society faces. It's just social attitudes which make it seem acceptable.