NEWS: Too Drunk to Drink

CULTURE: Too Drunk to Drink

And while we're on the subject of Texas, whose motto so aptly describes it as being "Like a Whole Other Country", here's another reason why you shouldn't mess with the Lone Star state: Undercover agents have begun infiltrating Texas bars and arresting drinkers for public intoxication.

this reminds me of Ron White's bit about "drunk in pub-lic"

Wow.
That's a whole lotta bullshit.

Just watch out for the guy drinking appljuice with a thick hed of whipped cream.

Another way of cutting down on drunk driving (without arresting people who haven't done it yet) would be more substantial penalties for the crime. I say first offense, you lose your license for a year, second you lose it forever, along with some real jail time and treatment. Just a thought.

Yeah, because the death penalty does such a great job at deterring murder.
People are idiots. Until they aren't, they will drink and drive.

That really depends on how you look at it. This story doesn't give any details about how they are going about arresting these so called offenders or what criteria they are using to judge who to arrest in that kind of situation.

If they are watching and waiting for them to leave the bar while intoxicated and then nabbing them once outside the bar or shortly there after then I can completely understand and agree with the logic of thier thought.

However, if they are making arrests inside the bar while people are still drinking and minding thier own business then I'd have to disagree.

Naturally if someone was causing problems or doing something totally and completely stupid, by all means remove them from harm and the harm of others.

I like to go out and get a few drinks but I usually hang out at the bar until I sober up enough to go home. It takes planning and control to do such a thing and most people don't. So as a public service to keep the general community safe I can completely understand and agree for the need of actions like this.

*edited for something....

[Edited on Mar 24, 2006 8:43PM]

[Edited on Mar 24, 2006 8:44PM]

No. If I get arrested because I tried to walk home drunk, that is the definition of bullshit. If someone is hammered, but not causing anyone any trouble, they should be left the hell alone.

I was about to say "If I lived in Texas, I'd be looking into changing those laws right about now." until I realized that without making public intoxication completely legal they could probably just bust people as they walked out the door. At less than one arrest per bar, I assume they aren't arresting the people who get drunk, then hang around until they're reasonably sober again before leaving. I really wonder how effective a use of manpower this is though, especially once people learn it's going on and start playing "Spot the Narc" at their local pub.

In fact, maybe public intoxication should be legal. It could be treated as an aggravating factor or whatever for anything else a person is arrested for rather than a crime in and of itself.

As long as they do not show up at our FC Dallas tailgates, where they would have to arrest me and 150 0ther people, I am fine with it.

Drinking at home is cheaper, and I can watch Buffy.

My god... if I got arrested every time I did the smart thing and walked or took the transit while drunk...

No, they just want to arrest you for getting drunk anywhere but a private residence I guess.

"They" want the tax revenue on the booze, the bar wants the profit from the booze but no one wants to deal with the side effects of emptying your wallet. You're on your own now drunkass, good luck!!!

Sounds just like my last girlfriend...
I need a drink.

Almost a year ago, I tried to walk home while horribly intoxicated. I woke up in the parking lot of a gas station a few hours later surrounded by police and paramedics. When I assured them I wasn't dead, but that instead of driving drunk I chose to try and walk home, not only did I not get arrested or ticketed, the cops actually told me that I was very responsible and wished more people did what I did.

Except of course, deciding to sleep in a parking lot.

So I am all for drunk-walkinghome.

"I was drunk in a bar, they threw me out in pub-lic: Arrest them."

Edited to say, that Ron White is the only "redneck" comic I find funny, so no deducting liberal cool points...

[Edited on Mar 24, 2006 by AaronB]

I am of two minds about this subject.

For starters, yes I do think it is a load of crap to get arrested for doing something which is legal. (drinking in a bar).

But I am also 110% against drinking and driving.

I live in a small town with no public transportation. Getting to any of the clubs for a major majority of the people who go is only possible by driving, or spending a few hours walking to and from. There is no easy solution, short of finding somebody who doesn't mind sitting in a bar for 6+ hours sober.

I would like to see the penalties for drinking and driving brought way up from what they are now. As it stands the worst you get for a first offense is lose your license for a year and pay some fines. And for second or third offense, most people get the above and then have to spend a year in a work release program.

I, myself, would rather see selling alcohol for public consumption made illegal. I have lost too many people to drinking and driving, being either them doing it or being killed by somebody who was doing it.

If people want to drink in their homes, I have no problem with that. I also don't have a problem if people don't drive.
But a majority of the world doesn't have public transportation or a short walk to and from the clubs, so they chose to go out and drink and drive.

I'm sorry for your losses, but I'd say 80% or more of the people in this country live in a place where they can take a cab home. There isn't anyway this law you're talking about will take effect, but I thought I'd be the first to say that it shouldn't and we don't need a nanny state, 3 cheers for personal responsibility!

because they dont like sleeping with the fishes....see

Where else are you going to leave your car overnight?

When I was growin up in Texas, we used to have to put up with a tactic called a drivers license check. The DPS (State Fuzz) would set up road blocks in the poorer neighborhoods and search for people to arrest. They would arrest or just ticket anyone transporting alcohol improperly (the correct method always changed), anyone caught driving without shoes, or an expired license or safety inspection sticker. The list was endless. This practice of busting people while still in the bar, is just like my home state. Any excuse to make a buck on the backs of the public. That's why I left.

A couple years ago people were getting hit by trains in Royal Oak Mi. SO Drunk you can't hear an Amtrak pulling into station, they had to put crossing gates across the sidewalks.

Arresting people for what they might do?? That's some scary shit.

Typical Texas bullshit.

The 18th Amendment