Land of the free, home of the brave

.....and incredibly narrow-minded, ridiculously restrictive alcohol laws: as the old saying goes, "only in America;" and praise the Lord that is the case.

In Australia buying wine is no big deal. You can walk into a bottle shop at 18 and do it. No matter where you live in Australia, you can hop on the internet and buy wine from any online retailer or winery, even if it’s in another state and get the wine shipped without concern.

Not so in puritanical America. Sure, you can go out and buy a gun, or damn near as many guns as you want, without much of a problem, in many cases all that is required is ID and the filling in of a form and they are yours. The gun can then be used to threaten someone you don’t like, for a hold up, or to kill some SOB you don’t like; sure you may face judicial problems, but that does not alter the fact that obtaining firearms is very simple and easy, despite the fact that in 2003 there were 11,920 (gun) homicides and 732 unintentional gun deaths in the USA. Despite these horrific statistics, gun ownership is easy and there is little serious attempt to change the laws and challenge the gun lobby (and industry.) In many parts of the US, you can buy a gun more easily and with less hassle than you can buy a bottle of wine over the internet from a different state.

Alcohol is evil and wine contains alcohol so it’s evil by association, and many of the wowsers and corrupt politicians who are only interested in getting themselves re-elected are more concerned about the evils of wine than they are about the over 12,000 unnecessary deaths by guns. Yep, that makes a lot of sense! NOT!!

Crack cocaine, heroine, ecstasy and all sorts of narcotics, whilst illegal in the US (and many other countries) are easily available to youth between 18 and 21. Those same 18-21 year-olds can’t legally buy wine (or other alcohol) in most of the US due to their restrictive laws. There is the interesting part; any bets on which are easier to obtain for 18-21 year-olds, drugs or alcohol? I am willing to bet drugs. Now any right-minded, sane and sensible individual would agree that alcohol and narcotics are both “drugs” of a sort, but when it is easier for a 20 years old to buy crack or heroin than a bottle of wine or a beer, the law is not just an ass, its positively insane.

Over there last few years, there has been a concerted effort (by wine lovers) to break down the trade restrictions between the states but the vested interests who benefit by the three-tier distribution system have been lobbying hard (paying big bucks – donations – to the right campaign funds) to try and stop it. All sorts of fallacious arguments have been used as justification for these laws; from loss of state taxes to the abuse of alcohol by minors, to name just two, so let’s briefly investigate these examples.

1. Loss of state revenue to the state the wine is shipped to. – What a crock. You can live in state A and buy a computer, software, a horse or damn near what ever you like and have it shipped to you from any other state in the Union and no one gives a monkeys, but buy a bottle of wine and the loss of state tax revenue is suddenly an earth shattering, fiscal nightmare for the state involved.
2. It will lead to underage drinking – Yep, there is no doubt about it, selling wine over the internet is dangerous as there is no proof of age when the purchaser buys the wine from interstate. I can see it now; millions of 17 year-olds buying cases of $25 a bottle wine so they can get “drunk.” The fact that they can buy narcotics for less and more easily doesn’t seem to come into the picture.


But the stupidity and narrow-minded bigotry does not end there, far from it. This one is an absolute doozy. In many states of the US, if you order a bottle of wine in a restaurant and don’t finish it, despite the fact that you have paid for it, it is unlawful for you to leave the restaurant with the open bottle. But there is good news on this front. In Washington they are trying to change this stupid law. Good news, one would think, that is until you read the fine print.

Under the new law diners who have wine left in a bottle could legally take the wine with them, as long as it's “resealed” by the restaurant, but they also have to get a receipt to show when it was purchased, and that the wine accompanied a meal.


Apparently, the bottle would still violate “open container alcohol laws” so the wine would have to placed in their boot/trunk or glove box.

The mind boggles!

All this rubbish so that you can take home a couple of glasses of wine! Buying narcotics or guns looks easier.