Meal Times

[Bob Dylan]

In Texas you have several kinds of Annual Alcohol Permits that are acquired through the State Liquor Control Board ( the fees are very high!)

Beer and Wine Off Premises Only, Beer off Premises only(to go/no on premise consumption ) Beer and Wine Only On Premise Consumption, and Two kinds of Mixed Drink Permirs, one for Restaurants and One for Bars/Clubs!

There are also "Members Only Private Clubs" and such places as Legion Halls, VFW Posts, and Churches (not Baptist or Mormon!)that have Special Permits to serve Alcohol! (We have Lawyers that Specialize in the Permiting Process it's so complicated!)

No-one can carry open alcohol containers into or out of places that sell alcohol!

And each County and Precinct gets to Vote on whether or not to sell/ serve what kinds of alcohol and the Hours of Sale! Hence we have "Dry" Counties, Dry Precincts and various combinations of What may be Sold, Consumed etc. ( Liquor /Package Stores.are the only ones that can sell Hard Liquor/Alcohol Combo to go and are Open only M-Sat 9AM-9pm/Closed Sunday and Holidays!)

Texas leads the US in per capita Consumption of Beer, DUIs and is probably only behind New York/New Jersey and Illinois when it comes to Corruption due to the Kooky Laws and Players involved!

 

[Devil's Advocate]

As Jim mentioned here in Texas we sure do like our alcohol. Bottled/canned beer and bottled/boxed wine are extremely easy to find in almost any convenience store or grocery market any day of the week up until midnight. This includes the high content 'malt liquor' stuff. Distilled spirits are much more restricted and the ban on Sundays means half of my potential shopping time is off limits thanks to blue laws. I actually think the situation with distilled spirits may lead to more drinking since folks will be more inclined to keep alcohol on hand rather than risk going without the next time they need some for entertaining or the like. Once it's in the house the amount of willpower required to avoid it goes up, possibly leading to increased consumption, and eventually the cycle repeats. Or at least that's what I've seen happen.

Meanwhile the rules on serving alcohol in restaurants appear to be extremely flexible. Mornings, Sundays, and late nights are no problem. Many times I've seen young children sitting at the bar eating food. Which is odd both from a exposure standpoint and from the financial perspective. Who is benefiting from welcoming young kids to sit at the bar? It wouldn't seem to be the kids and it wouldn't seem to be the bar. I'm perfectly fine with drinking in general but bars are not exactly known for calm attitudes and moderate behavior. I probably wouldn't want my (hypothetical) children to be around that kind of environment until they're old enough to understand. I'm not sure if any of y'all have ever visited Dave & Busters but ever since they ended the policy of kicking the children out at night it feels like someone crossed a bar with a nursery.

 

[chezndave]

Here in the UK you can buy booze practical 24/7 except on a Sunday, when visiting family in Australia last they also have drive through booze shops that sell all levels of the stuff, from beer to liquor . .

 

[NorthShore]

Aw, shucks, I practically grew up sitting on barstools.

 

[JayPea]

In Washington state run liquor stores were voted out of existence a couple of years ago in favor of privatized liquor sales. Stores over a certain size are now allowed to sell liquor. Wine and beer have always been allowed in stores. The size restrictions effectively prevent gas stations and C stores from selling anything other than wine or beer. Those who voted for privatized liquor sales thought it would lower the price for a bottle of booze. Guess what?? To offset the loss to the state coffers of liquor sales revenue, a couple of different taxes were tacked on to a bottle making it more expensive than before. And not surprisingly the state run liquor stores in nearby Idaho have seen liquor sales rise dramatically. As for me I never drank enough to develop any kind of taste for any alcoholic beverage. So I don't care who sells it or where it's sold. Also no alcoholic beverage can be sold between 2AM and 6AM.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I wonder why alcohol is so controlled when equally dangerous drugs, such as caffeine, is available in all quantities and styles to any 3 year old holding the requisite cash.

 

[VentureForth]

Caffeine is hardly EQUALLY dangerous.

 

[neroden]

Caffeine is hardly EQUALLY dangerous.

Well, I do know of one person who killed herself accidentally by overdosing on NoDoz. But it's pretty hard to do that with coffee or tea.

 

[VentureForth]

My point exactly. It takes an overdose to be dangerous (like alcohol). Only, it takes a WHOLE lot more caffeine to be detrimental to health (when dispersed by traditional means) than alcohol.

 

[jis]

It is well known that an overdose of water will also kill someone

 

[Green Maned Lion]

It takes a whole lot less caffeine. Hard liquor is 40% alcohol. Monster is .03% for example.