WTF?!?

In a earlier post, I proposed that it may be a good idea to stay out of states that start with the letter 'M'. I was being somewhat facetious, but there may be more to it than I originally thought. Enter Missouri.

I guess there isn't a whole lot going down is this great state. The headline reads : "Plan would make it illegal for teenagers to be drunk". I am no lawyer so please forgive me if I sound like an idiot, but what the hell is this?

The proposal by a special House and Senate committee seeks to eliminate what many regard as loopholes in the state's underage drinking laws.

Loopholes? What kind of loopholes? This sounds like the underage contigency has its own lobbying group.

For example, while it is currently illegal for minors to buy, seek to buy or possess alcohol, it's not illegal for them to be intoxicated. Under the committee's plan, youth could be charged solely for being drunk - regardless of whether they were in possession of alcohol at the time.

Really? This is beautiful. I guess I should have studied the law a bit more when I was younger. I always assumed that possesion was somewhat irrelevant. So I could have been 14, loaded on pure grain alcohol, and been able to say 'Up yours copper, you (uh, I mean, I) ain't got nothin' on me!'

"The proposal would make it a misdemeanor for adults to knowingly allow teens to drink on their property, even if the adult did not buy the alcohol."

And what about the situation when the adult is not 'in the know'?

Sen. Michael Gibbons, R-Kirkwood, cited a recent teen drinking party in his own neighborhood as an example of the kind of activity he'd like to prevent. He said the law needs to spell out specific sanctions to parents who tacitly allow parties to take place.

'A recent teen drinking party'? 'In his own neighborhood'?!? For the love of God, he's a Senator. Why didn't he get off his ass and go over and do something about it at the time? Maybe he was up for re-election and didn't want to piss off his supporters. And now, with the 'mandate' he received from the people, he's gonna bring this 'boozin' to an end.

Angela Hirsch, executive director of Missouri chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said that while the proposal isn't perfect, it at least would eliminate many of the weaknesses of state law as it concerns underage drinking.

"It's an excellent step in the right direction," she said.

Just how many 'weaknesses of state law' are there? And which direction is that 'excellent step' going. It's a step towards Prohibition, I suspect.

I could go on but will sum it up with this: How about making alcohol and its consumption non-Taboo? This is arguably the single greatest factor in alcohol abuse in the U.S. especially as it applies to the younger generations. Anything that is made off limits to a teenager, be it sex, cigarettes, junk food, rap music, you name it, that will be the first thing a teenager is going to seek out when the opportunity affords itself. This isn't your kids not listening to you. It is human nature. And anybody who disagrees is lying to themselves. Everyone did something 'taboo' when they were younger.

If alcohol is accepted and incorporated into normal life, I suspect that many of these problems will simply disappear. The reason some kid gets into Missouri State and drinks 80 beers in one session is not because he couldn't hack Economics 101. It is because he has no frame of reference and respect for alcohol and quantities thereof.