It's a nice, relaxing evening: meeting with friends at a bar for a few drinks after a hard day on the job — hopefully with the hit on your wallet being reduced on account of happy hour. Currently, though, one part of that plan is illegal in Massachusetts.
Tufts undergrads, many of whom are under 21, may not realize this, but it is currently illegal for bars to offer hourly discounts on drinks. In other words, happy hour is illegal in Massachusetts.
Thankfully, this puritanical provision may soon meet its end. On Oct. 11, the Massachusetts State Senate passed an amendment to the much−debated casino bill that would allow bars and restaurants to hold happy hours.
The current law has good motives behind it: preventing drunk driving. Indeed there's no excuse for getting behind the wheel while intoxicated, and violators should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
However, prevention of drunk driving needs to come from measures like police checkpoints, education and things as simple as picking a designated driver. Reduction of drunk driving should not come from punishing those who responsibly enjoy a drink or two and from restricting businesses from bringing in customers during slow days.
While the removal of the anti−happy−hour regulation would be a step in the right direction, the regulation itself is a symptom of the overzealous way the United States treats alcohol consumption in general.
As anyone who has traveled abroad can say, in much of the developed world, alcohol is treated in a far more relaxed manner. It is something to be enjoyed responsibly in moderation, rather than as "The Devil's Water."
U.S. laws, including strict open−container regulations and, of course, the country's abnormally high drinking age, contribute to our dangerous culture around alcohol and also engender disrespect for the law.
When the law entrusts an 18−year−old with the right to vote and the ability to join the armed forces and fight and die for the country, but does not judge that same person responsible enough to have a beer, the law seems pretty ridiculous.
Massachusetts needs to treat adults like adults, not like children who are going to drink themselves to death or endanger others if they aren't kept on the tightest leash possible. The first step in this process is for drinkers to show that they aren't a mass of loud, drunk−driving hooligans. The next step is for U.S. laws to then catch up to reality. Happy hour is a good place to start.
