By Staff
As an effort to deter underage drinking and large outdoor drinking parties, the state Senate recently voted 30-0 to ban drinking keg beer anywhere other than bars, restaurants or other licensed establishments.
Next thing you might see in the headlines is: The Senate recently voted 30-0 to ban drinkin alcohol anywhere other than bars, restaurants or other licensed establishments.
Gimme a break people. If this becomes a law, it isn't going to stop kids from getting what they want. Do officials not realize that it's just as easy to get a case of beer than a keg?
When I was in high school, the only reason we had keg parties was to gain a little extra income. We didn't have them because they were fun. Who wants to stand in line for a long time in the middle of a massive crowd to get a sip of beer when you can grab one out of your cooler? That was our mentality when my friends and I moved into our college years.
The problem with underage drinking is not the underage drinkers. It's the vendors. I remember my first fake ID – it was horrible. It looked nothing at all like me but I still managed to get it for my friends and myself.
If vendors, especially those selling kegs, can't spot a fake ID then they shouldn't be selling alcohol in the first place. Not to mention other red flags like nervous behavior, piles of makeup the girls wear to make themselves look older and the idle chit chat guys tend to make when they want appear wiser than their years. Been there done that.
One senator was quoted as saying that the Mobile area has had major problems with huge outside keg parties. Well, now you're just moving those parties inside or better yet, the ban will force kids to find an even more remote and dangerous area to continue unsupervised drinking.
What surprised me is that even as they voted in favor of the ban, senators agreed that underage drinking wouldn't stop.
Their mentality was that if they give in now they shouldn't even have laws in the first place and this is the best starting point.
Well, if that's their case, then why stop at just kegs? Why not go that extra step and ban alcohol sales completely? Because alcohol sales, whether people want to admit it or not, are a huge portion of revenue for many towns.
I think the real problem is the people selling the alcohol. Why not use the taxes from the sale of alcohol to sufficiently train workers to spot fake IDs?
The House needs to make the right decision and vote against this ban.
Mary-Allison Lancaster is the Managing editor of the Brewton Standard. She can be reached via e-mail at mlancaster@brewtonstandard.com