New Hampshire to Propose a “One Drink Per Hour” Law?

 Cross posted on Grizzly Groundswell

  Thanks to Ryan at Pro Patria for tipping me off on the following story that I somehow missed right here in my own backyard.

  New Hampshire Sen. Martha Fuller Clark, D-Portsmouth, has introduced a bill in New Hampshire that would add the phrase “knowingly serve” to the state’s existing laws on bars and restaurants serving alcohol to either minors or people who are already drunk. This bill, which would help to protect bar and restaurant owners, has the support of both groups.

 But the New Hampshire state liquor enforcement czar, Eddie Edwards, doesn’t think that this bill goes far enough. He wants more, much more. He wants to create what he calls the “safe harbor” law.

 This law consists in the government regulating how many drinks a person can have while in a bar or restaurant.

Edwards’ proposal says that operators can serve one drink per hour, four at a sitting. One drink is defined as 1 ounce of spirits, 5 ounces of wine or 12 ounces of beer.

 This is outrageous! It was only a matter of time though, once the smoking ban went into place this was the next logical domino to fall. And it won’t be the last, what’s next? These nanny state, I know better than you what is good for you, who’s your daddy politicians want to control every aspect of our lives. Smoking, booze, trans-fats, and on and on it goes. This is government intrusion of the worst kind. The government is continuing to extend their vile tentacles into every aspect of a person’s private life. This has to end somewhere. The government should not be in the business of protecting a person from his or her own stupidity.

  I understand the dangers of drinking and driving, I understand that bars and restaurants have an obligation to make sure that people don’t become intoxicated in their places of business, I understand that it is not healthy to consume large amounts of alcohol, I understand that it is illegal to drink and drive, and I understand that this would be done for the public good.

  But I also understand that there comes a time and a place where the government oversteps it’s bounds and I understand that there are times when the government intrudes and invades on people and I understand that there are times the government tries to over-ride a person’s common sense, to become a person’s brain. These nanny state politicians trully believe that the state is smarter than the individual.

 This is just such case. This goes beyond protecting businesses and this goes beyond protecting the public, this is an invasion on person choices and private business rights. 

 Just look at this  statement from this condescending son of a bitch:

Here’s the criteria — you can only consume so much alcohol,” Edwards said. “If I give you four, five drinks an hour, you should know that this makes someone intoxicated

No shit, and that is why there are laws already in place that prohibit restaurants and bars from serving intoxicated people. We don’t need the government stepping in and actually putting a number on the glasses of wine or beer that a person is allowed to drink. This is insane, this is government intrusion, this is John Lynch’s New Hampshire.

 “Live Free or Die” my ass.

 The true spirit of New Hampshire is already dead.