# Should Everclear be banned? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 10, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830 "2011-09-10T15:54:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830/1 "2011-09-10T15:54:32Z")
It’s already illegal in a few states, so I’m talking about a ban nationwide. [HERE](http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/129196333.html) is a story about a guy who payed the ultimate price for over indulging. And, of course, his family wants to ban the product. :rolleyes: _Sigh_. I, for one, am so sick of this shit. Every time someone does something stupid, the knee jerk reaction is to further restrict the choices of everyone else by placing bans or heavy restrictions upon the inanimate object that was abused. This product can safely be used in moderation by adults, and is done so by millions. The action of 1 moron should not impose on the rest of our liberties. This is especially true when the “victim” is the same person who used the item in a foolish way. Such bans only seek to excuse the imbecilic behavior, and meddle with natures master plan: Eliminating idiots from the gene pool! ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830/2 "2011-09-10T16:06:53Z")
I dunno, I always liked “Santa Monica”. And “Learning How to Smile” wasn’t THAT bad a double album. In all seriousness, the answer to your question is “no, that would be stupid.” Not much of a debate. Wait, I just read the article–crazy mom was HOME for this, and didn’t stop her drunk son from jumping in the pool or just, y’know, cut him off? Sounds like SOMEONE is trying to duck a negligent manslaughter case by blaming the liquor. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830/3 "2011-09-10T16:08:29Z")
From the article: > [@](#): > > Jeff Wielichowski, 22, drowned in the Greenfield family’s swimming pool on July 15 after drinking a punch made of 190-proof Everclear grain alcohol, Red Bull and Gatorade Gah, that sounds nasty. No, grain alcohol should not be illegal. We’ve tried alcohol prohibition before. It doesn’t work. We _should_ make a better effort to educate kids about alcohol, though, and teach them how to use it safely. I see the story in the link as just natural selection, though. This was a 23 year old adult, not a teenager. By the time you’re old enough to buy Everclear legally, you should be old enough to know not to pound it with Red Bull and then jump in a swimming pool. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830/4 "2011-09-10T16:08:48Z")
[Santa Monica](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW6E_TNgCsY) may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I see no reason to ban Everclear. Wait, what? No. If we banned everything that people have managed to abuse, we’d be naked and sleeping in the cold…but only until they banned the great-out-doors too. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830/5 "2011-09-10T16:09:59Z")
I think we should ban private swimming pools; 100% of home pool drownings involve a swimming pool. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830/6 "2011-09-10T16:12:58Z")
Toothpicks. Toothpicks should be banned. You could seriously do nasty things to yourself with a toothpick. But grain alcohol? No, how do you make proper punch without it? ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830/7 "2011-09-10T16:13:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Jeff and one friend mixed up the Everclear, Red Bull and Gatorade and started drinking it about 8:30 p.m. His parents have since learned this blend has an all-too-fitting name: Tucker Death Mix. Sounds like some good shit. Makes me wish I still drank. Anyway, the answer is, No, it should not be banned. This was a 22 year old. If we were talking a 16 year old, we might have a basis for discussion, but 16 year olds are already banned from buying booze of any kind. The man would be just as dead if he chugged a liter of Bacardi 151 or anything 100 proof. You can’t fix stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830/8 "2011-09-10T16:14:24Z")
I feel the same way about Four Loko. Almost all the people the got messed up on Four Loko were underage. THEY SHOULDN’T BE DRINKING IT ANYWAY. People over 21 mostly got busted on it for drunk driving. It was a massive amount of alcohol to drink in the first place. " She drank four cans and when CRAZY! Ban the product!" Hello, lady? That’s like 24 beers and 8 cups of coffee. She wasn’t crazy; she was blasted. I’m surprised she was able to turn the ignition. My econ professor explained a while back that laws only work when they cause an externality (good or bad). We don’t allow drunk driving: not because it kills you but you kill other people. We don’t allow smoking in restaurants: not because it hurts you but because it “hurts” other people. We don’t let you beat your kid: not because you’ll hurt your hand but because you are hurting another person. Prohibition doesn’t work because you are only attempting to stop a person from hurting themselves and YOU’LL NEVER STOP THAT. People should leave others to their own business. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830/9 "2011-09-10T16:15:02Z")
Sorry about your son lady but obviously no one has the heart to tell you: your son was not only an idiot, but also apparently illiterate. Bottles of Everclear are very clearly labeled about exactly what it is and it should be apparent to anyone of legal drinking age and anything approaching average intelligence that you shouldn’t drink a lot of it. Mistake #1: mixing with Red Bull. Mistake #2: continuing to drink once already drunk. Mistake #3: swimming while shit-faced. His mother was home during the entire evening. Where is _her_ responsibility for not keeping an eye on her son when she _knew_ he was swimming drunk? She’s a fucking professor of nursing! Sounds like _she_ should be liable for her own son’s behavior and actions on her own property. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830/10 "2011-09-10T16:15:06Z")
He didn’t die of alcohol poisoning, but instead drowned in the pool? Seems like they should be equally eager to ban pools. ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830/11 "2011-09-10T16:39:07Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > This was a 23 year old adult, not a teenager. Sounds like proof we need to raise the drinking age to 24, this tradgedy could have been prevented! > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > …and then jump in a swimming pool. Sounds like proof we need to require helmet use when drinking grain alcohol, and jumping into pools. And PFD/lifejacket use. “her son’s blood-alcohol level was 0.26%,” Sounds like we should limit b.a.c. to 0.08 when swimming. I’m confident the government can _proactively_ keep this accident from happening. ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830/12 "2011-09-10T16:44:11Z")
> [@Surbey](#): > > Prohibition doesn’t work because you are only attempting to stop a person from hurting themselves and YOU’LL NEVER STOP THAT. People should leave others to their own business. Gah, that’s sounds like Libertarianism to me! And this story is clearly proof that Libertarianism causes people to get poisoned and die. Just another example of Wisconsin’s Libertarian government screwing people over. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830/13 "2011-09-10T16:55:10Z")
This guy wasn’t a child. He was a 22 year old adult. At 22 I was 4 years into being legal drinking age, 3 years into being married, almost a year into fatherhood, and I had just started my career in law enforcement. And that was in the early 80’s, hardly ancient history. Today we more and more treat young adults like children and therefore they’re going to do stupid child-like things. [Jeff Wielichowskis](http://download.lardlad.com/sounds/season12/thohk9.mp3) last words. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830/14 "2011-09-10T16:55:18Z")
Everclear is very useful, even if you don’t much iike booze. Say you want to extract the active ingredient of some herbal type remedy. Everclear being almost pure alcohol is very useful, not having so much water. Ginseng, for instance. Grind up some good solid Korean Red, soak it in Everclear for a long, long time. Pour in just a touch of distilled water, to keep it liquid, warm slightly to evaporate the remaining alcohol. Patience. Takes a while, but ginseng, like a lot of them, doesn’t disolve well in water, so you have to keep careful track of the water/alcohol ratio. Have a shot if the weather forecast is favorable for sexytimes. I don’t know if Viagra works or not, but I’m planning on never finding out. You want game, beer and sammich, earn it! ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830/15 "2011-09-10T17:48:00Z")
I thought it \*was \*banned - at least here in PA. (I may be wrong though.) I can’t recall when or why, but I thought I tried to buy some a few years back and I was told it was no longer sold in PA. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830/16 "2011-09-10T17:58:18Z")
In Minnesota they water it down to 75% (150 proof). ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830/17 "2011-09-10T18:36:28Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > It’s already illegal in a few states, so I’m talking about a ban nationwide. > > [HERE](http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/129196333.html) is a story about a guy who payed the ultimate price for over indulging. And, of course, his family wants to ban the product. :rolleyes: > > _Sigh_. I, for one, am so sick of this shit. Every time someone does something stupid, the knee jerk reaction is to further restrict the choices of everyone else by placing bans or heavy restrictions upon the inanimate object that was abused. This product can safely be used in moderation by adults, and is done so by millions. The action of 1 moron should not impose on the rest of our liberties. > > This is especially true when the “victim” is the same person who used the item in a foolish way. Such bans only seek to excuse the imbecilic behavior, and meddle with natures master plan: Eliminating idiots from the gene pool! +1 Sorry you didn’t get your debate, but the lady is just espousing too silly a position. I cut her some slack because it sucks that her son’s dead and she’s guilty about her own parenting and about having raised a kid with super poor judgment. Whether it was this sympathy or just shoddy local newspaper reporting that led the reporter to present her story more or less on her terms I don’t know. If I were the editor I would have insisted on at least one sentence saying something to the effect of “alcohol doesn’t contain any chemical or pose any different threat than any other hard liquor, it is just considerably more concentrated than others.” Or noting that college-age kids favor Everclear precisely **because** it gets you loaded really quickly and cheaply. That is its **only** (well, main) reason for being! And that’s why he bought and drank it! Oh, and in addition to giving the kid a free pass for being stupid, and mom and dad a free pass for not monitoring what was going on at their house, while they were there – nice job by the article of gliding right by his dumbass irresponsible friends who probably could have saved him if they had acted immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830/18 "2011-09-10T18:48:31Z")
While it’s always doubly sad to see someone lose a child he clearly did it to himself and did so knowingly. I disagree with the Mother’s assertion that he didn’t know how strong it was. That is specifically why it was purchased. He bought the most amount of alcohol for the dollar and he mixed it to create another drink. Reading between the lines he was a young 22 which describes about everybody else in his age bracket. He went to an Arts schools and was “looking” for a better job while having just bought what was probably a very nice car. Translation, he was living at home spending money foolishly and using his parents to enable this party lifestyle. The alcohol didn’t kill him. It’s an inanimate object. If you want to assign intelligence to a bottle of liquid than I can just as easily say that the contents was trying to tell him something. The only thing I might agree with in the article is the possibility that he jacked his heart rate up and swimming wasn’t the best option. Wouldn’t surprise me to find out he had a heart attack. His friends are, IMO, negligent in his death. Sad. His parents want to “do something” and it’s not a problem with a solution. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830/19 "2011-09-10T18:49:07Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I thought it \*was \*banned - at least here in PA. (I may be wrong though.) I can’t recall when or why, but I thought I tried to buy some a few years back and I was told it was no longer sold in PA. > [@pkbites](#): > > It’s already illegal in a few states, so I’m talking about a ban nationwide. I said national ban in the OP simply because it is banned in some states. I would be rather surprised if it actually got banned here in Wisconsin, _The Drunkest Place on Earth_TM ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830/20 "2011-09-10T18:51:50Z")
Sounds like what we should ban is 22 year olds. Everyone goes from 21 straight to 23. Problem solved. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-everclear-be-banned/595830.md?page=2)