A Madison school nurse is suing national brewers and distillers, claiming they have engaged in a "long-running, sophisticated and deceptive scheme" to sell alcohol to underage drinkers and reap billions a year in unlawful revenue.Leinenkugel's!?! Why doesn't she just toss Walter's and Grain Belt in there for good measure!
Jacquelyn Tomberlin's suit was filed Thursday in Dane County Circuit Court and lists more than 100 defendants, including Milwaukee-based Miller and its subsidiary, the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co., as well as mega-brewers Anheuser-Busch and Coors and imports Heineken and Guinness. Among the spirit-makers in the lawsuit were Bacardi, Jim Beam and Hiram Walker.
In all seriousness, though, this is ridiculous. Even more so than the tobacco lawsuit. If you want to look to the source of kids developing a brand awareness and preference for alcohol as a minor, look to the home, not advertising. It all starts with the parents. My father quit smoking and drinking when I was six, and that did more to keep me from trying any of those vices as a minor than anything. In fact, and I'm loath to admit this, I was very anti-Leinies as a kid because I heard my dad tell horror stories of the stuff. It wasn't until I left home and started growing up a bit that I developed my attachment to Leinie's, or beer for that matter. And as for those 18-20 year old underage drinkers, they are adults responsible for their own actions. In fact, just legalize it for them. If they can vote and die for their country, they sure as hell should be able to drink legally. But that's another post for another time.
2 comments:
This bio of the judge should not surprise anyone.
http://www.nacdltapes.com/index.html?loadfile=item2355-09.html
Nor should her ACLU connections surprise anyone.
http://www.loyno.edu/newsandcalendars/release.php?id=577
I particularly liked the title of some of her pieces: "Transsexual Marriage: A Trans-Atlantic Judicial Dialogue" and "Legal Ethics and Religion: An Oxymoron?"
I tend to look at this as a more social problem than political. There are more dysfunctional families in America than most other places (no stats to back me up, but just picking up a paper and look at the 'Local' section will prove my point).
Now, if your father is a drunk who abuses your mother everyday, what sort of mental strength are you going to develop, growing up?
How about not having a father and your mother making frequent visits to the jail?
What about different men coming to "visit" your mom every other night?
Such scenarios are perfect breeding grounds for early age drinking, smoking and drugs. And more importantly, at an early age, when doing any of those takes the pain away for one night, you are bound to become a dependent. And though I do think there is a strong tobacco and alcohol lobby, I think the problem is more social than political.
We need more brainwashing from non-government as well as governmental organizations about the ill-effects of drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco and consuming recreational drugs in any form.
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