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Tag: alcohol ban

  • Prohibition Party Reignites Anti-Alcohol Campaign In New York

    Prohibition Party Reignites Anti-Alcohol Campaign In New York

    The state party is focused on pushing back on New York’s flourishing alcohol industry.

    Seems like alcohol prohibition didn’t die with the 21st Amendment. In fact, support for the idea is alive and well in New York state, where a small group of prohibitionists are reigniting the fight for temperance.

    The Prohibition Party of New York (established in 1869) has been dormant since national prohibition—the ban on the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages—ended in the United States in 1933. But the group reemerged in 2017 with a small membership, led by state party chairman Jonathan Makeley of Amherst.

    “The motivation for re-establishing our state party organization was to have a positive influence on the condition of our state. To promote good government based in moral principle, ethical public service, and policies to advance the public well-being,” the NY Prohibition Party said to NYup.com. “To promote temperance, to advance policies to deal with the problem of alcohol in our society, and to advance other reforms to help build a better future for the people of New York state.”

    The state party believes that the common anti-prohibition narrative is perpetuated by myths that are “not historically accurate.” For example, the party believes that instead of being a failure, prohibition succeeded in drastically cutting drinking rates and decreasing crime in the U.S.

    The state party is particularly focused on pushing back on New York’s support for its alcohol industry.

    According to NYup, under Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York has cut fees and regulations for breweries, wineries and distilleries amounting to millions of dollars, which has allowed the number of alcohol producers in the state to double since 2012.

    “Gov. Cuomo is perhaps the worst governor on alcohol issues that our state has had since Herbert Lehman (New York’s governor when Prohibition ended in 1933). His support for the alcohol industry is unethical and has harmed the people of New York,” says the state party.

    It’s also the New York Prohibition Party’s goal to encourage New York towns to stay “dry” or “partly dry” (having some restrictions on alcohol use/sales). Currently there are 8 completely dry towns and 36 more that are partly dry.

    And in addition to ending pro-alcohol policies in New York, the state party also supports more substance abuse prevention efforts and to “expand education on the harms of alcohol and the benefits of teetotalism (complete abstinence from alcohol).”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Sheriffs Ban Alcohol After Hurricane Michael

    Sheriffs Ban Alcohol After Hurricane Michael

    Unsurprisingly, the move was met with a wave of criticism. 

    In the aftermath of Hurricane Michael, two Florida counties briefly banned alcohol sales as part of an emergency disaster declaration.

    The Category 4 storm walloped southeastern seaboard states earlier this month, leaving at least 30 people dead in the U.S. and wreaking particular havoc on Florida and Georgia. Five days after the hurricane made landfall on Oct. 10, sheriffs in two Panhandle counties on the Gulf cut off booze-buying.

    As the ban set in, a spokesman for the Gulf County sheriff said the top cop “feels like people need to not focus on drinking.” State statute allows local sheriffs the authority to pause alcohol sales during riots, states of emergency and other crises, officials told the local paper.

    “He just wants to give people time to adjust and cope and the businesses time to get open and their feet back on the ground,” Gulf County sheriff’s spokesman Corey Dobridnia said.

    But even as word of the modern-day Prohibition spread, Panama City—the Bay County seat—voted to dial back the ban there four days after it began. Elsewhere, officials promised to re-open booze sales once power was restored. 

    Both counties were open for a full bar by Saturday, according to local reports.

    While it was in place, the short-lived restrictions—predictably—drew some backlash. And after Hurricane Katrina, there were no such bans in Mississippi and Louisiana, according to the Sun Herald.

    But this time around it was not so much thirsty would-be customers who objected as it was devastated business owners already dealing with losses from the storm, now coupled with the dip in income from a lack of booze sales.

    “This alcohol ban puts them in a bind,” Laguna Beach resident Nancy Estes told the Northwest Florida Daily News. “I don’t see where the business owners should be penalized for something they had to get a license to do. They paid to get a license to sell beer, wine or spirits, they should not be penalized.”

    Some took to social media to air their concerns. 

    “Banning all sales of alcohol only rubs salt in the wounds of those already affected financially by this disaster,” wrote Jonathan Hampel, “especially all of those in the restaurant business.”

    View the original article at thefix.com