Legal Issues
by David J. Hanson, Ph.D.
Although alcohol and drinking have always been an important part of American life and culture, there has long been a strong undercurrent of antagonism toward alcohol. Temperance movements rise and fall and are currently growing. This cultural ambivalence toward alcohol is reflected in our often inconsistent laws regulating the production, marketing, sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages. The sometimes amusing nature of some of these alcohol laws can be seen at It’s the Law (about Alcohol and Drinking).
Internet resources on legal issues in alcohol and drinking are categorized below in terms of:
- laws/legal decisions
- alcohol breath tester accuracy
- minimum legal drinking age
- alcohol abuse and problem prevention
- alcohol law enforcement
- alcohol advertising
- other alcohol legal issues
I. LAWS/LEGAL DECISIONS
- DWI/DUI Laws of U.S. States
- State and Local Alcohol / Drinking Laws
- Alcoholic Beverage Laws in Texas
- Utah’s Liquor Laws Ludicrous?
- Blue Laws Unconstitutional
- High School Students Who Drank Alcohol are Vindicated
- Bar Can Sue Underage Drinkers
- New University Drinking Policy
- Buying Alcohol for Minors
II. BREATH TESTER ACCURACY
- Breathalyzer Accuracy and DWI/DUI Conviction Rates
- DUI/DWI and Soft Judges
- “Tough” and “Lenient” DWI/DUI Judges
- Unreliable Alcohol Breath Tests in DWI/DUI Court Cases
- DWI Defendants and Alcohol Blood Tests
- Tongue Studs and Breathalyzer Tests
- Breath Analyzer Accuracy
- DUI Tests Must now be Accurate
- Alcohol Breath Testers Challenged
- New Breath Test Challenged
III. DRINKING AGE
- Drinking Age in the US Military
- Legal Drinking Age
- The National Minimum Legal Drinking Age Act of 1984
- Responses to Arguments Against the Minimum Legal Drinking Age
- Parental Rights Threatened
- DC Decriminalizes Underage Drinking
- Illegal Underage Drinking Arrests
- Underage Drinking Arrests Illegal
- Call for Lower Drinking Age in Vermont
- Minimum Legal Drinking Age Myth
- Drinking “Lerner Permits” for Under-Age Persons
- Get Rid of the Minimum Drinking Age
- The Legal Drinking Age: Science vs. Ideology
- “No, Honey, You Can’t Drink with Me!”
IV. PREVENTION
- Preventing Underage Alcohol Purchases
- A Learner’s Permit for Drinking
- Underage Drinking: Diversion/Education vs. Punishment
- Graduated Driver Licensing Reduces Youthful Drinking & Driving
- Graduated Licensing Works
- DWI/DUI Courts Work
- Beer Keg Registration
- Death Penalty for DWI Offenders Proposed
- Ban drinking on Private Property?
- Children in Pubs
V. ENFORCEMENT
- Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center
- Underage Alcohol Sales Entrapment Stings
- Compliance Checks or Sting Operations
- Busts for Alcohol Purchases
- Judge Jailed for Using Cough Medicine
- Alcohol Agents Raid Senior Citizens’ Garden Party
- Wine and Cheese
- 8 Year Prison Sentence
- Art Galleries Raided for Serving Wine
- Jail for Underage Alcohol Possession
- Zero Tolerance for Underage Drinking or Possession of Alcohol
- Confiscating Driver’s Licenses and Fake I.D.s
- Designated Driver (DD) Difficulties
- DUI Bumper Stickers
VI. ADVERTISING
- Lawsuit Charging Alcohol Ads Target Teens Tossed Out
- Alcohol Ad Ban Ruled Unconstitutional
- Alcohol Ads, Free Speech, and Constitutional Rights
- Utah Alcohol Ruled “Irrational”
- Alcohol, Censorship and Free Speech
- Alcohol Ad Ban
VII. ISSUES
- Driver’s Manuals Fail Accuracy Test
- You Drink and Drive, You Lose
- Forced Drawing of Blood without Warrant
- Driver Tells Doctor, Loses Driver’s License
- Drink. Drive. Go to Jail
- Reduce Legal BAC?
- Fake I.D. Cards
- Parental Rights Challenged
- Punishment First, Trial Later!
- Congressional DWI’s
- Parental Alcohol Rights Threatened by Proposed New Law
- Punishing the Innocent
- Illegal Alcohol Stings
- Legal Drinking Punished
- Underage Drinking Felony Law
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Collections of articles, readings and references on specific topics.