ATHENS, Ala. (AP) — Voters have a chance on Tuesday to return this northern Alabama city to the days of Prohibition.
A measure to end the sale of alcohol in Athens is up for a citywide vote, a rare instance where voters could overturn a previous vote to allow sales. Business interests are against repeal, but church leaders who helped organize the petition drive that got the measure on the ballot are asking members to pray and fast in support of a ban.
Christians who oppose drinking on moral grounds believe they have a chance to win, however small.
“If it can be voted out anywhere, it will be here because so many Christians are against it,” said Teresa Thomas, who works in a Christian book store.
Business leaders argue that ending the sale of beer, wine and liquor would hurt tax revenues and send the message that Athens is backward.
Full Story here:
Alabama city to hold Prohibition vote
They are afraid that this will send a message that Athens is backwards?? Ya think??
I don’t condemn anyone that takes a drink, I don’t condemn anyone that doesn’t take a drink, that’s their business, and no matter what these folks do, a local prohibition is NOT going to work, it’s an historic fact of life, people are going to take a drink if they want to, and if passed, the tax base that they are going to lose is going to hurt everyone in that town…
When I was a kid, we lived in Louisiana, and we lived in a Parish that was DRY, and yes, Louisiana had some areas that were DRY, that means no legal beer, wine or booze, well, that DRY thing was also the biggest joke you ever heard of, all you had to do was go to the local bootlegger and pay 3 times the price and get whatever you wanted to drink, and everyone knew who the bootlegger was, there was a payoff system in place and they never got busted, OR, you could drive just across the Parish line, and I mean just across, like less than 50 feet, and there were bars and liquor stores a plenty…
Well, one little area, an incorporated ‘village’ got the idea that if they voted in ‘package sales’ no bars, just cash and carry, they would not only be helping to stop people from driving that 30 or so miles to go get their booze, but they would also take a few drunks off the road in the process, not to mention, they were about to generate one hell of a huge tax base…
Within 3 years, every person in that small ‘village’ was hooked up on the NEW water system and every street in that little ‘village’ had new streets, widened and paved, good solid streets for the very 1st time…
And until this very day, unless things have changed that I am not aware of, the bigger town to which they are bordered still doesn’t allow package sales, and their city infrastructure is as bad as it was 30/35 years ago when this was all put in place…
People that want to take a drink are going to take a drink, and making their little city DRY won’t matter one bit, leave it alone, let sales continue, tax it and use the revenue to help your city grow, and ask yourself this question, has prohibition EVER worked in this nation?? Or any other nation for that matter??
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The last time I was in Louisana they had drive-up windows where you could order a drink for the road.
I think they were called daiquiri bars or saloons.
Do they still have those?
Sure do, and you can get a kick ass drink too, but not in some of the northern and central Louisiana Parishes, Baptist Bible belt at it’s very best, south Louisiana is predominantly Catholic, so, party til you puke, screw til it falls off, run to confession, tell the priest, and if HE doesn’t molest you, all is well, get a Daiquiri on your way to the house and start the party all over again, your slate is clean… LMAO… And that’s a hell of a lot closer to the truth than a lot of people are going to care to admit to…
Absolutely if the church leaders in our area had complete say so there would be no business to speak of; joblessness, increased poverty, and people would take their business elsewhere.
Stand in the middle, look both ways, and see it all type towns.
Take these restaurants for example; Apple Bees, Texas Road House, Logans, Ruby Tuesdays, Ole Charlies etc. All prominent restaurant chains and big time employers, they create jobs but all serve alcohol. I can’t think of many out side Bob Evans that don’t serve it and are at all sucessful, not to the degree the ones that do are.
All this does is hurt communities. If a person is a drinker or wants a drink they will do it anyway. Most non alcoholic communities have a town within minutes to get it anyway. And all the non alcoholic communities that I can think of right now have nothing in way of jobs either.
Not even a walmart, those are where these resturants that serve alcohol are mostly. They build around each other.
Oh the memories ! SC had the drive thru gimme a beer places too….
What always got me…especially after moving up here, were the “Blue” laws, where ya couldn’t buy damn near anything on a Sunday…you could buy diapers, but not diaper pins, toothpaste , but not toothbrush or vice versa.
I admire the intent of those trying to pass this in Alabama, but seriously, they could do more good by putting their efforts into stopping child abuse.
I use this same argument to advocate legalizing most drugs. The drug war has failed and will continue to fail. As long as there is a demand and the money is right there will be some one willing to take the risk to supply. Legalize, tax, and control. Take the BIG money out of drugs and drugs will come off the streets
Here in Texas we have what is called an Adult Snow Cone. I being a dumb ass went through the drive through window of an adult snow cone hut, looked at the menu and ordered 2 peach adult snow cones, I thought they were large slushies. The clerk ask me for $14 dollars. I said, “$14 for 2 snow cones, damn”, drove out and back to the job site. Gave my two hands the “adult snow cones” they looked at me and then each other bewildered. Finally one said, “is it O.K. to drink on the job site”, I said, “hell no”, he said “why did you get us these drinks”, I replied, “let me taste of that”, that’s when I found out what an “Adult Snow Cone in Texas is”.
I think if the majority of folks in a town don’t want to be a “wet” town that is their prerogative. Look, they ban smoking in restaurants why not booze, it is a health risk and can be the cause of immediate death to others, once a drunk gets behind the wheel.