Maryland bans high-proof grain alcohol in part to reduce sexual assaults

[Texashiker]

Political correctness has gone to far.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/ma...ohol-illegal-tuesday-20140630,0,3083657.story

Maryland joins at least a dozen other states Tuesday in banning the sale of 190-proof grain alcohol, a measure that lawmakers hope will help to reduce sexual assaults and binge drinking among college students.

The grain alcohol ban, backed by a group of university presidents as a safety measure, comes amid a growing focus on rape and drinking to excess on campus. Del. Charles Barkley, a Montgomery County Democrat, said increased awareness of the risks associated with grain alcohol bolstered support for the bill he sponsored.

Wow, just wow.

Instead of young adults taking responsibility for their actions, getting drunk, having sex, not respecting women who drank too much, lets just ban high-proof alcohol.

And those kids are supposed to be the leaders of tomorrow?

Let them make their mistakes and hopefully learn from them.

Some college boy rapes a passed out girl, guess what, you are now a registered sex offender. All that money mommy and daddy spent on your education went down the drain because nobody is going to hire you.

 

[mirageracerx]

because prohibition worked so well last time...

 

[nehalem256]

What happened to just telling men not to rape?

Hasn't that been working?

 

[IronWing]

That is just stupid. College students drink to get drunk. Whether they do it in four shots of 190 proof or 8 shots of 100 proof matters not. I would guess that folks drinking 190 might even drink less because it hurts too much.

 

[brandonb]

What happened to just telling men not to rape?

Hasn't that been working?

Well, they have been "basically" telling men not to rape them, but then just decide to let him finish because they were too tired to get out of bed.

 

[hal2kilo]

People rape. Not alcohol.

 

[shortylickens]

They've just been mixing everclear with koolaid anyways.

If you ban the high proof shit they will switch to cheap gin and not thin it out. In the end they'll probably be consuming MORE alcohol.

 

[Brainonska511]

Texashiker's views on personal responsibility:

When it's other people, they need to have it:

Instead of young adults taking responsibility for their actions

But when it is him, it's unfair and freedom infringing:

I paid my child support. It ended in May when my daughter turned 18. Does not mean I am not bitter about being used as slave labor.

 

[Texashiker]

But when it is him, it's unfair and freedom infringing:

Not at all.

When parents are not treated equally by the law and the courts, there is a problem.

 

[jana519]

That is just stupid. College students drink to get drunk. Whether they do it in four shots of 190 proof or 8 shots of 100 proof matters not. I would guess that folks drinking 190 might even drink less because it hurts too much.

But it takes a lot less effort to get there with 190 proof.

 

[KB]

Its one of those "feel good" laws that ultimately do nothing. Lawmakers know they are unable and not smart enough to actually craft meaningful and useful bills so they pass garbage like this to inflate thier numbers.

"The law is "an annoyance more than anything because now we have to deal with this inventory; if we don't sell it, we really can't do anything with it," he said.

He also called the law "an exercise in futility" and predicts manufacturers will soon come out with slightly lower-proof alcohol, such as 188-proof alcohol, as a way around the law. He said lowering the allowable level to 120-proof might have more of an impact."

First the bill is easy to get around. Second no one drinks pure grain alcohol. They always dilute it to alcohol levels typically lower than good whiskey > 40%. If they have to buy 120 proof grain alcohol then they will just have to dilute it less.

 

[Sonikku]

This does nothing to prevent Legitimate Rape™.

 

[Ns1]

Lol. Inb4 "189 proof everclear"

This does nothing to prevent Legitimate Rape™.

Nice.

 

[Cozarkian]

I bet this is backed by contributions from the alcohol industry. Instead of buying cheap grain alcohol, students will buy larger amounts of cheap vodka. Same outcome, slightly higher cost.

 

[Texashiker]

"The law is "an annoyance more than anything because now we have to deal with this inventory; if we don't sell it, we really can't do anything with it," he said.

College kids living close to a state border will just drive to the next state and buy whatever they want.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

College kids living close to a state border will just drive to the next state and buy whatever they want.

Not when the states that surround Maryland have already banned the sale of 190 proof alcohol.

 

[mirageracerx]

Its one of those "feel good" laws that ultimately do nothing.

Yup, completely agree. this is just complete BS. moonshine will start to get popular again

 

[DrPizza]

Yup, completely agree. this is just complete BS. moonshine will start to get popular again

I have relatives who made apple pie moonshine - the real stuff, from real moonshine. I talked to the guy who distilled the original spirits that went into it - do you throw out the firsts? (Methanol distills out first.) "No, after that comes out, we wait until the temperature of the batch goes up, then we pour it back into the batch." He was under the impression that some magical chemical reaction turns it into ethanol, rather than it comes right back out as methanol. He said that it was common practice. In other words, there are a lot of idiots making moonshine.

Everclear is safer. It's easy to obtain. I completely agree about the moonshine becoming more popular as a result. THAT is a real negative aspect to banning the Everclear. An analysis of "it'll prevent college rapes" upon examination is complete nonsense, because as stated above, kids will get drunk.

 

[z1ggy]

That is just stupid. College students drink to get drunk. Whether they do it in four shots of 190 proof or 8 shots of 100 proof matters not. I would guess that folks drinking 190 might even drink less because it hurts too much.

This. We made Everclear margaritas once, and holy shit, I had like 1 sip and said noooooooope I am all set.

These law makers are freaking idiots. They waste our tax payer dollars coming up with these useless laws that will probably do more harm than good.

 

[Ns1]

I have relatives who made apple pie moonshine - the real stuff, from real moonshine. I talked to the guy who distilled the original spirits that went into it - do you throw out the firsts? (Methanol distills out first.) "No, after that comes out, we wait until the temperature of the batch goes up, then we pour it back into the batch." He was under the impression that some magical chemical reaction turns it into ethanol, rather than it comes right back out as methanol. He said that it was common practice. In other words, there are a lot of idiots making moonshine.

Everclear is safer. It's easy to obtain. I completely agree about the moonshine becoming more popular as a result. THAT is a real negative aspect to banning the Everclear. An analysis of "it'll prevent college rapes" upon examination is complete nonsense, because as stated above, kids will get drunk.

Why would kids turn to moonshine when they can go to CVS and buy 151 which would still be legal?

151, everclear, pretty much the same crap - one burns going down and the other evaporates going down.

 

[Hacp]

Its easy to get around this. You can chemically purify alcohol so that it does not contain any traces of grain. It is just pure alcohol. Then sell it with a grain flavoring mix that you distilled out.

 

[Genx87]

So funny how politicians will outlaw associated behaviors in hope to address the main issue. Lets ban 190 proof alcohol because it will help stop sexual assaults and binge drinking? What sound logic.

 

[DrPizza]

Why would kids turn to moonshine when they can go to CVS and buy 151 which would still be legal?

151, everclear, pretty much the same crap - one burns going down and the other evaporates going down.

I didn't say it would be specifically kids who would use the 151. I agreed that the kids would continue to get drunk. It's the adults who would increase the consumption of moonshine.

 

[smackababy]

In their defense, it is a lot easier to black out and get alcohol poisoning from Everclear than it is from Natty Light. There are a lot of states and counties that actually have bans on Everclear (and beer in containers larger than 32oz...).

 

[Ns1]

Do you guys actually know college kids who drink everclear?

We used everclear for 2 purposes: jungle juice and hazing. Substitutes are readily available.