NH's Liquor Enforcer Proposes 1-Drink-Per-Hour Law

[The Straight Story]

There is a new bill proposed by New Hampshire's top liquor law enforcer that suggests a one-drink-per-hour limit at local restaurants and bars, according to a newspaper reports.

SeacoastOnline.com reports the law is aimed at combating drunk driving.

State Liquor Law Enforcement Chief Eddie Edwards suggests that bar and restaurant owners would only serve one drink per hour, four at a sitting. According to the paper, Edwards defines one drink as an ounce of spirits, 5 ounces of wine or 12 ounces of beer. "Here's the criteria - you can only consume so much alcohol," Edwards told the paper. "If I give you four, five drinks an hour, you should know that this makes someone intoxicated."

Despite the safety benefits of this law, many bar and tavern owners are not happy about it, because the proposal would cut into business.

http://wbztv.com/local/one.drink.hour.2.935713.html

[Skink]

1. You know NH without the sales tax used to be the place to drive and buy..

as many cases of beer as you could fit in the car.

[Stinky The Clown]

2. This is a dumb idea. Dumb as dog shit. Dumber, maybe.

Do we have to .... what? hang timers around the necks of barflies? make glasses with little clocks in them? Chalk marks on the bar top in front of each boozer? Deputize the bartenders?

I have not yet clicked your link, but I'm gunna bet ...... this was a Democrat who suggested this stupidity.

[TheManInTheMac]

3. NH is pretty much small "L" libertarian...

I can't see this passing there.

[DJ13]

4. We need to outlaw the Puritans still among us

[rwheeler31]

5. Does this make sense to anyone? How long does it take

you to eat have a couple drinks and go?

[BlooInBloo]

6. BWAHAHAHAAHAAA!!!!!

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

7. Speaking as a former stumbling drunk...

Where did the find THIS asshole?

[panader0]

8. I propose a signing statement: 15 minutes is OK too.

Just don't drive...........

[Warren DeMontague]

9. Yes, and we all know no one drinks to get intoxicated.

For fuck's sake.

[dhill926]

10. Welcome to the 12oz. glass of wine....

[jmowreader]

24. He specifies the size of the drinks, too

Wouldn't this law have the effect of banning the cocktail in New Hampshire?

[Raine]

11. I can't stand drunk drivers

my boyfriend's sister was killed by one but I don't see how they are going to enforce this. :yoiks:

[catnhatnh]

12. I expect a SHITLOAD of friends over after this passes....

to drink and smoke....you know, all the shit normal people used to go to a bar for. Ain't no sports bars paying for twenty 60" plasmas and satellite services on a drink an hour and a 4 drink maximum...

[eShirl]

13. no more Volcano Bowl for Two?

:(

[mmonk]

14. Make it a double then.

[customerserviceguy]

17. Exactly

The high octane ales I favor would sell well! I had a couple of Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porters the other night, in between them was a Troegenator. The big reason this was OK? My lady, who likes iced tea (the regular kind, not the Long Island stuff) was driving. Who gave a shit how much I drank, as long as I was not disorderly in the slightest?

Also, there's a difference between people just drinking, and people eating while drinking. There's also a difference between the portly folks like myself, and really skinny people as to what they can "handle". No allowances made for individual differences.

Damned nannies.

[MiniMe]

15. Restaurant owners and bar owners would fight it tooth and nail

And I agree. As long as you aren't driving, it really isn't their business.

[dysfunctional press]

16. open up 4 seperate bars in one strip mall...

patron buys a drink in bar one, then 15 minutes later goes to bar 2 for the second one, then to bar three...bar four...and back to bar one.

repeat as necessary.

[malakai2]

18. Almost works

Just let's redefine one drink as however much alcohol I can fit in a glass of my choosing. Four Long Islands in 3 hours and 5 minutes suits me adequately.

Suppose someone orders a shot of 151 or absinthe, does that 1 ounce of liquor equal a shot of vanilla vodka that's half the proof?

[backscatter712]

19. I'll have one Zombie.

That counts as one drink, doesn't it?

[DeepBlueC]

20. is your bar tab going to be a time card?

... punched with every order? You will have to retain the card (after payment) on your person for 72 hours and in your file cabinet for seven years. How the hell are they supposed to keep track of that? You'll have to carry insurance to be a waiter. Which no one will be able to afford.

[southern_dem]

21. You'd think they would realize the

tax implication of this. The fewer drinks sold, the less in tax revenue. Either way, it's a horrible idea.

[ozu]

22. haha

Like this could ever be enforced. During economic hard times some idiot legislators seem hell bent on destroying an industry.

[jmowreader]

23. All together now: no fucking shit!

Yes, Eddie, we know drinking five drinks in an hour will make you intoxicated. That's why you do it.

I think the taxi company owners combined with the saloonkeepers, restaurant owners, innkeepers and escort service owners can defeat Eddie and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (nee Women's Christian Temperance Union).

[catnhatnh]

26. I once suggested the incorporation of "DAMN"...

Drunks against meddling ninnies. Your personal experience of a negligent homicide should not trump the legal rights or 150 million adults. And back when they started enforcing a legal limit of .20% they nearly had a point since they were near impairment for all drivers. But of course now we're down to demonizing all adults at .08% while they press to legislate lower. Of course with dash cams a more reasonable approach would be to prosecute actual apparent impairment vs a fairly arbitrary blood reading that affects individuals differently. Sadly enough even if we reached equity with airline pilots of 24 hours "bottle to throttle" they are in fact not advocates for safety but zealots and would begin their push for a 36 hour limit.

Edited to add:Oddly I don't see them as vociferously prosetyletize against cell phone use which is exactly what the old women who t-boned my brothers car and broke my ribs and his wrist while totaling his car was doing at 9:08 in the morning.If you care about practices that are irresponsible and kill and injure innocent people, how did these zealots miss this???

[backscatter712]

29. Friends of mine have suggested DAMM:

Drunks Against Mad Mothers :evilgrin:

[Canuckistanian]

25. Why not require your mother to accompany you to the bar?

It would accomplish the same goal. And relieve the bar owner from legal responsibility at the same time.

Seriously, how would pissing off the RESPONSIBLE people who call cabs, rely on friends for rides, etc, serve the public good?

[1]

27. actually a bill like this needs to pass...

so that citizens who arn't paying attention to the way of our goverments will rise up and scream "hell no!" in unison and then maybe start to spend a bit more time scrutinizing what their representatives are truly up to in the state house.

the press behind this would be delightful, nationwide and a wake up call for all americans...

(plus i'm sure the good "live free or die" nh folks would find a way to amuse themselves around this until the law is ultimately overturned...)

[tyedyeto]

28. No bill such as this in AZ but...

I work in the hospitality field ie: restaurant/bar and in every alcohol training class I've taken, it's always been the standard that, for our state, the amounts described in your post are what blood alcohol testing is set at for DUIs. But if, for example, a person has 2 drinks in less than 2 hours but then switches to a non-alcoholic drink for the rest of the time period, he or she cannot be 'legally drunk'.

Bartenders everywhere are aware that they can be held liable for overserving but 'clocking' them is not feasible, IMHO.

[KansDem]

30. 12 ounces of beer?

That's one ounce every five minutes. So I guess you can get 12 one-ounce shot glasses of beer and down them every five minutes...:shrug:

edited to correct math...