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Senate opposes easing Utah liquor laws

Way to go Republicans! Keep government out of people's lives!

People who consume alcohol often interfere with other people on the highways and into our wallets paying for social consequences of alcohol! This is a good law and will save lives and families. If beer is your favorite pastime, get a better one!

I feel that the Utah politicians need to get their heads out of the dark ages. I am sick and tired of government interference into the lives of the citizens and only thinking of how much money the state can make from controlling liquor. First it was prohibition, Then Cigarettes, Now poor liquor laws. What's next? A ban on sugar and starches because they cause diabetes. I think this world needs to get back to basics and start worrying about people. For example: Why do we have so many people that can't get medical help when they are in need of surgery and do not have medical insurance? Why do we have hungry children? I could go on but I feel you get my point.This does turn away tourist!!!

From the article:

The incoming Senate leader said people patronizing private clubs have to be identified. "We need to do everything we can to keep people from driving impaired," Waddoups said. "Private club memberships have been a help in identifying those people."

I don't understand how a private club membership helps to identify people who drive impaired?

I'm speechless. That doesn't happen very often.

I am glad to see the senate in Utah is taking a look at something beyond making the almighty dollar. The ripple effect of drinking is so far beyond changing the laws and the costs of all the damage it causes people. thanks Senate for going beyond the dollar signs that so influence our governor.

lame. grow up. Let people make their choices and deal with the consequences. Our embarassing and theocratic laws really take away from the loveliness of our state. The LDS church publicly acknowledges a desire to work toward laws that allow for personal choice...come on, take your cues senate.

Let's see how committed you really are to getting the gov't out of people's lives.

Let's all support a system that takes gov't out of the loop. We permit bars to serve whoever they want, whenever they want.

But we also strengthen Utah's weak-kneed dram shop laws so that the bars, their owners, and all members of the "hospitality industry", are held fully and strictly responsible for the carnage they wreak on unsuspecting innocents when they permit, even encourage, overindulgence in their establishments.

That seems extremely fair. Any time a drunk driver hurts someone, we include the industry that profits so handsomely from enabling him in the personal injury lawsuits.

Gov't is out of our lives. People are made whole. Everyone's happy!

OK?

Dave?

Utah legislature?

Wilford Woodruff had some interesting words about the future of people who help put alcohol into other people's hands. It is sad this little Huntsman apparently isn't familiar with them. A future in the Republican party and bowing down to addiction promoting special interests isn't what he's here on earth to do.

Thank God we don't have these ridiculous liquor laws in California. Years ago I worked for the Liquor Control Commission in Utah and was utterly baffled by the archaic liquor laws there. You think the state legislators would have learned something from the 2002 Olympics and the effect these weird laws had on tourists that came from all over the world to Utah.

I was hit with my wife by a drunk driver. My mother was rear ended on the interstate by a drunk. People do not come to Utah because of cheap easy liquor on every corner. It is available. The governor should be looking for ways to make Utah safer and more restrictive. We do not need to "normalize" like Vegas. Employees need to help educate rather than cry and moan about the process. Servers and owners have contributed to the problem rather than accepting the reason behind it. Governor Huntsman obviously has not been touched in a negative way by someone abusing alcohol. I am concerned he wants to cater to this special interest group that advocates loose liberal alcohol laws.

I'm enticed to the comment section of this article by seeing on the front page summary there are 10, then I click on the article and it says there are 15, then I finally arrive at the comments and there are 6. Wonderful.

Which do you think causes more harm...alcohol or cigarettes? I can easily get cigarettes nonetheless. This is a thinly veiled kowtow to the church, is all it is. All the senators had to do was say 'won't somebody puhleeze think of the children'? Hypocrites.

The whole membership thing is actually one more way to add cost to drinking in Utah and penalize those that drink. Your view that the Senate is looking beyond making the almighty dollar is squarely the reverse.

People who will overconsume will do it regardless of restrictive laws same as those intent on harm will find a way to get weapons regardless of gun restriction laws. Penalizing self-regulating people because of those who cause the problems only penalizes the upstanding citizen. It never solves the problem.

Private clube, socialized liquor stores and metered drinks.... Not one person can prove these have saved one life or kept anyone from drinking. They should be eliminated (and will when we are the majority in about 15 years).

These laws are written and supported by simple-minded, ignorant and mean little men. Waddops, Buttars and that ilk are what is wrong with Utah. T

Some tourists to Utah fly in and stay in hotels/motels and are not driving drunk. The drunk drivers are Utah residents. Taking away the tourist registration for private clubs would make identifying UTAH residents driving drunk easier because more attention could be placed on people drinking not registering to drink.

It appears the concern of the senate is drunk driving. What they are saying is that liberalizing the liquor laws won't help reduce drunk driving. It is curious that the governor would want to try to increase tourism at the expense of people killed by drunk drivers.

If someone wants a drink they will have it. No amount of funny laws will change that.

Waddoups and the other Senators that say Utah's liquor laws aren't a problem for tourists obviously have never actually spoken to any Utah visitors. The many friends and other visitors that I have spoken to think the club "membership" process is a joke -and the majority of them don't DRINK! They like to go to clubs, play pool, order food, etc. To them, filling out paperwork and paying a fee just to enter a club is ridiculous. I have heard many say that they won't be visiting Utah again any time soon - and they tell all of their friends about their negative experience -thus discouraging other visitor that would spend money in the state.

. . . dram shop laws are the answer!

They incentivize responsibility, rather than irresponsibility. And they make ill-gotten hospitality industry profits available to persons injured by that industry.

Utah legislature -- where are you?