Free Talk Live

It seems prohibition is rearing its ugly head, on the heels of Four Loco bans and alcoholic whipped cream looking like the next target:

The state's (North Carolina) liquor stores will stop selling 95 percent pure grain alcohol out of concern the product can be abused by students with dangerous results.

Mecklenburg board chief executive Paul Stroup calls the product "dangerous, with no redeeming social value." Unlike all the other liquor they sell???

PA Liquor Control Board has given Walmart preliminary approval to sell liquor in the state, even though grocery stores cannot legally sell alcohol. To keep the state's monopoly on liquor sales breathing, it's now legal as long as the store installs a vending machine that dispenses wine with a breathalyzer.

Alcohol consumption is banned in Qatar, except in hotels and for non Muslims who obtain special licenses.

Legislation sponsored by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi and headed for likely passage by the Board of Supervisors would require San Francisco shoppers to pay 10 cents per bag provided by the store at checkout starting July 1. That charge would jump to 25 cents per bag two years later. The store providing the bag would pocket the money.

A sweeping ban on plastic grocery bags will go into effect July 1 for unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. The bag ban was touted by county supervisors as an environmental measure to rid the county of "urban tumbleweed" that pollutes landfills and gets washed out to sea. Paper bags will still be available, but customers will be charged 10 cents per bag. Beginning July 1, 67 large supermarkets and pharmacies must stop providing disposable plastic bags. By January 2012, the ban will cover about 1,000 smaller stores.

Iowans are selling rare Templeton Rye whiskey on eBay, causing state police to arrest sellers for bootlegging. Police spokesman Rex Banner assures the public they will put an end to this menace. State officials say only licensed establishments may sell liquor and only at specific sites, and that online sales amount to bootlegging, which had its infamous heyday during Prohibition.

In Iowa, bootlegging is a serious misdemeanor that can carry a fine of up to $2,000 and a year in jail.

UK to consider bill to set minimum price for alcohol. The Guardian article doesn't even mention the possible unintended consequence of partiers opting for other drugs which may do more harm. They talk about it not being a way for grocery stores to increase profits -- pub owners and clubs however should benefit by the decreased cost difference.

The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a man's conviction for Refusal to Identify Self, a Class C Misdemeanor. The man was a passenger in a car driven by his girlfriend, who was stopped for making an illegal turn. After obtaining the girlfriend's (driver) identification, the police officer questioned the passenger as to his identity. The man refused to comply. He was then arrested, and later convicted at a bench trial, of Refusal to Identify Self, a Class C misdemeanor.

A team of researchers at the University of California at San Francisco say sugar should be identified alongside alcohol and tobacco as a health danger, and governments should tax sweetened drinks and food as part of their efforts to combat it.

Best Quote: "We're not talking prohibition, we're not advocating a major imposition of the government into people's lives. We're talking about gentle ways to make sugar consumption slightly less convenient"