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« Cinderella and Plato | Main | Breaking the Law, Breaking the Law »

Don't Get Drunk in Dallas

You gotta be kidding me.

About two weeks ago in Irving, Texas, patrons were being arrested for public intoxication…*inside the bar.* The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) sent undercover agents into 36 different establishments and arrested about 30 people for public intoxication while they were still inside enjoying their beverages. TABC Captain David Alexander said (From the Dallas NBC station’s website):

"Going to a bar is not an opportunity to go get drunk. It's to have a good time but not to get drunk."

Also from that website:

TABC officials said the sweep concerned saving lives, not individual rights. Agents and officers also said the operation represented an effort to reduce drunken driving.

They even went as far as going into a hotel lobby bar and arresting patrons there, some of which were staying in the hotel and had no intention of leaving before going to bed. The arresting authorities claimed that those patrons were a danger to themselves and others.

I am all about keeping drunk drivers off the streets. But arresting people inside the bars? Huh? If someone who is obviously drunk or appears to be drunk leaves an establishment with keys in hand and about to get into the driver’s seat…fine. Stop them and test them. Even that is an extreme measure but I don’t think I would put up that much of a fight over it. But someone who is not the driver and isn’t bothering anyone, why arrest them? How is a non-driver arrest saving someone’s life?

I guess I don’t understand it. If some person wants to get drunk, and they are not bothering anyone around them, how is that a crime?

So now you are not allowed to smoke or drink in a bar. What’s next? They won’t be allowed to play music either because that is damaging people’s ears? Sheesh!