Hacker News Reader

Comment by toast0 | Hacker News Reader

Banning alcohol may be a good idea, but it seems infeasible. Last time the US tried it, it didn't go well.

The way US goes about banning alcohol on the road is simply not working. There are really hard punishments for driving while drunk, but it is really loosely enforced. So you are very unlikely to be caught, but if you are, your life is gonna suck.

There is also hardly any accommodations for people to go out drinking outside of walking distance from you home (especially in rural areas; it might actually be safer for you to drive in a protected vehicle then risk being hit by a drunk driver on your bicycle). And to top it off, the police it self is really dangerous, so it is hard for friends or bartenders to justify calling the police on a drunk driver.

All this makes a perfect environment for people to rather “risk” drunk driving, which as we know is a disaster. I think banning alcohol is a terrible idea, providing accommodations, better enforcement, friendlier law environment, etc. will go a long way.

The way the US went about it is just one data point. In Islam, we have successfully minimized drinking to an extremely large extent.

That is true. Islam has had many more centuries of practice (and quite a few Muslims drink depending on how strict they are ).

Yes, but you can also read about how when the prohibition was revealed, people obeyed without delay. It has been documented that people immediately broke their wine containers and poured them in the streets of Madinah, such that it flowed through them.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com