Prohibition!

[winryweiss]

Today, alcohol prohibition was announced in my country!
I am not kidding.
There is a nasty case of methanol poisoning from adulterate alcohol all around my country (19 deads so far), so every alcoholic beverage above 20% volume is banned.
But still ...
Still ...
A Prohibition!
Even if it is not complete ban of everything alcoholic.
This is ... astonishing beyond believe.

Comments

[kadytheredpanda]

Damn, 19 dead?! I remember hearing a case of about 50+ people dead in India from a similar thing about two years ago.

Is it a temporary ban or is the prohibition intended to be permanent? The US tried to do the latter in the 1920s and all it did was bring rise to gangsters and that stuff.

I personally don't drink very much (well, duh, Kate, you just turned 21 a month or so ago) but I'm sure that for people that like their alcohol strong this really sucks.

[winryweiss]

And the number is not final yet. Some of those who are in coma in hospitals have slight chance to wake up.

I don't think, that prohibition will be permanent. Beer and soft stuffs are still allowed for now, and we are known as beer-loving nation. (Wonder why, that beverage is not tasty at all.) But the hysteria is here, and hysteria is a b*tch.

[kadytheredpanda]

I didn't know that about the Czech Republic.

The few times I've tried beer I haven't really liked it. Either I haven't had "good" beer or I just don't like it.

[winryweiss]

Duh. Me neither.
When I drink something alcoholic, it had to be sweet.

Czech and German (and maybe Austria) are nations of beer-lovers. Yet this fact is somehow strangely omitted in world wide knowledge.

[kadytheredpanda]

(Dang, the one time we talking legitimately about alcohol and I forget to break out my cocktail icon (I normally use it for very casual/what I think happy hour conversation is like or Haddock stuff).)

On my twenty-first birthday I ordered a cosmo because I heard they were supposed to be sweet. All I could taste was the vodka. Ugh.

I've definitely heard about Germany because of Oktoberfest.

[winryweiss]

Yay! Whatta likeable topic icon. ^^

Everyone heard about Oktoberfest. Biggest beer-event in Czech couldn't compare. Not that I ever was there, but my uncle returned from it drunken under picture. And robbed. And with cut hair. (He used to have the same lengt as I have now, below waitline.)

I kinda like fruit flavoured vodka, or tiny bit of vodka in juice. But I hardly drink, yet I couldn't avoid it on family celebrations.

[slashgoddess80]

Is 21 the legal age to drink there? In my country you can drink once you turn 16!

[winryweiss]

Here, you are officially free to drink and smoke (and hence destroy your health) since you turn 18.

[kadytheredpanda]

Yeah, it's 21. In Japan it's 20 (which is also the legal adult age there).

It used to be 18 here until the 1980s. Evidently one too many kids were getting into drunk accidents so that and road tax regulations forced states to raise the age to 21.

[doubledecks]

This is pretty remarkable. What a situation - I absolutely love to drink, and I'm not too shy to admit I really adore high-proof stuff in moderation (sort of ;P). I honestly don't know how I would react if something like this were to happen in the US. Especially in my town, I live in what was at one point the top party campus in the nation. I know a lot of drunk students who would not be pleased! Really sad to hear of the deaths, though.

[winryweiss]

Those deaths are horrible, but the overall situation is sidesplitting.
I mean, prohibition.
(Momma, will there be those fella with sub-machine guns in stylish clothing?) Hell yes!
I still can't get over it.

Top party campus in the nation, huh? I pretty well know this feeling. In my city is the second oldest university in Czech. Lots and lots of students. And lots and lots of pubs and bars.

[kadytheredpanda]

My college is called one of the "driest college campuses," but that's partially a lie. The alcohol presence on campus is not too visible on the outside, but a lot of the juniors and seniors have their own little alcohol stashes in their rooms. I know a couple are binge drinkers but overall most of them can drink somewhat responsibly.

[winryweiss]

Like every students all around the world.
I personally prefer to go to cafes or tearooms and just chat or play games there, as well as most of my friends and schoolmates. Those few 'let's drink till we drop' events I participated in were somewhat dull.

[slashgoddess80]

wow 19 dead people?
Why don't they try to educate people to not drink too much instead of prohibiting it? There are people who like to drink some alcohol without getting drunk and will pay for that irresponsible people.

[winryweiss]

I wonder about that.
The main proble is, that the dangerous methanol is in adulterate alcohol with counterfeit labels. And no one know exactly in which bottle it could be.

[missmartine]

Wow, what an unusual occurrence! I'm sorry to hear about the deaths and health threat. I hope that gets sorted out soon... It's kind of an ironic reminder, though, that even unspoiled alcohol ought to be taken seriously, because it too can be a poison to the body. :/ Glad the event hasn't affected you personally!

[winryweiss]

It seems that Prohibition will be for weeks. Not good for the economy. Yet, most people are amused of this situation and agree with current precautions.

But the sight in shops. Everything is perfectly normal and suddenly empty shelfs where alcohol used to be.