Dry counties: moral necessity or infringement on liberty and happiness?

June 3, 8:07 AMBirmingham Atheism ExaminerJerome Triplett

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Much like legalized gambling, the sale of alcohol is still a much debated issue in Alabama. Many from the northern states arrive here to be shocked at still enforced prohibition laws, often leaving with a freshly reinforced negative view of the often lampooned south. Many Alabamians feel a sense of embarrassment when listening to a visiting corporate functionary lament at being stuck in a small town with no means of entertainment. Also prevalent is an unsettling disappointment at how such deficiencies affect the decisions of those seeking to do business in an area where one must drive considerable distances to simply entertain potential clients.

Among the 67 counties in Alabama, 14 are still completely dry, while 12 are only partially dry, or "moist". It should come as no surprise that the main defense employed against alcohol sales is the argument that this would cause social and moral degradation, which in turn would lead to an increase in crime. It is also no secret that this campaign against alcohol is chiefly championed by Christian conservatives who tends to have commanding majority in rural areas. Unsurprisingly this is where you'll find the most of the aforementioned dry counties.

To be fair, the most erudite of the prohibition movement are not without data to support their claims. There have been many reports by Criminologists and Sociologists that have indeed shown positive relationships between alcohol availability and crime. Some of these arguments maintain that alcohol is a catalyst rather than a cause of crime, while others argue that crime increases due to a search of resources to obtain alcohol. Still others argue that it is the environment (bars, dance clubs, etc) that encourages crime. One such report, "An Examination of the Link Between Alcohol Availability and Violent Crime in Arkansas" by Texas Christian University states that "...alcohol serving establishments, especially those in which alcohol is to be consumed on site, have been shown to have direct effects on crime."

But what of such supposed connections between alcohol availability and a general erosion of the moral fiber? First I encourage the reader to peruse the above mentioned TCU study. One might, especially if he or she is from the South, take exception to and question the methodology of a report that openly makes such statements as: "...this project revolves around the idea of the Southern subculture of violence..."; The regional subculture of violence, according to Gastil (1971) and Hackney (1969) suggest that higher rates of homicide in the South are a result of a predisposition toward lethal violence in Southerners."; and finally the suggestions by hackney as to why this was so, namely that a larger portion of lower status occupations, the South's rural/agricultural tradition, a difference in child rearing practices versus the rest of the country, and factors such as education, race and poverty may have increased violence in the south.

After reading such statements it seems unclear as to whether the report has made a conclusion regarding alcohol and crime or a conclusion regarding growing up in the South and crime. Or perhaps the report is merely indicating that alcohol consumption is acceptable for urban, educated, middle class and white members of the country who have the wits to properly raise their children; but for the poor, ignorant and slack jawed Southern yokel such pleasures of society are beyond their ability to control. I daresay you'll find an Alabamian that isn't ready to challenge such notions, without resorting to the murder of the claimant, one might add.

It is also far from clear that fears of increased crime and accidents are even valid. An October 2008 report by the Perryman Group titled "The economic and Fiscal Impact of Alcoholic Beverage Sales in Texas: An Analysis with Emphasis on Various Representative Communities" (hereafter referred to as the Perryman Report) reported that statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the US Department of Transportation show an actual decrease in alcohol related accidents, even as alcohol has become more available in that state. The report also went to conclude that "Recent studies have also found that the correlation between alcohol accessibility and social problems such as accidents tend to be spurious when controlling for other measures. In fact, while the results are somewhat mixed, numerous academic papers have noted negative effects of county-level prohibition on social problems. One study concluded that, when county characteristics are properly accounted for, local access results in a 4% drop in alcohol-related accidents*, while another observed that the proportion of the population involved in such crashes was notably higher in dry areas."**

Second it should be pointed out that while some counties in Alabama prohibit the sale of alcohol, they virtually have no control of alcohol consumption. The above mentioned Perryman Report had this to say: "Residents of dry areas simply have to drive to a neighboring wet area to buy alcohol. Thus, although some may see decreasing sales as protecting the area from the legitimate social problems that can occur from abuse, others view this practice as only an inconvenience for residents." Residents of Marion County, for example, are quite willing to drive as far as Littleville, AL or Tupelo, MS in order to buy alcohol, though displeasure at the waste of time and money can be heard from many hardworking and honest residents. Factor in the increased likelihood of an accident while driving such distances (both are roughly an half hour to hour away from most towns in Marion County) and the unnecessary costs grow even further.

Lastly, no argument against the conservative and religious hucksterism of prohibition would be complete without mentioning the negative economic impact such attitudes can have. It is no secret that rural towns across Alabama are slowly dying. Even before the current economic crises much of North West Alabama suffered from poor job opportunities, weak educational systems, anemic community resources and stagnant (if not actually dwindling) population growth. It can be fairly argued that counties such as Marion only exacerbate the problem by refusing to go wet. To give an example, the Perryman Report found that alcohol sales in Texas provided $36.6 billion in total annual spending, $19.2 billion in yearly output, more that 301,400 jobs, state tax receipts totaling $2.067 billion per year and local tax receipts totaling $.622 billion per year. The report also goes on to report than a small, 25,000 person community can expect to see an increase of up to $10.8 million in output, with an increase of 185 jobs. For many small towns in Alabama a mere half of those numbers would be a boon. These are increases that North West Alabama can ill afford to lose. In fact, it may prove fatal to do so.

As outrageous as statements such as those made in the TCU report may be to those who live in the South, is should be noted that this is in effect what all who advocate the banning of alcohol claim for us. The assertion that alcohol sales and consumption lead to rampant crime and decay of the moral fiber is no less than a claim that the free citizens of this free nation have neither the moral nor mental capacity to govern themselves and act as responsible members of society without a benign, possibly even theocratic, despotism that seeks to pass judgment, in more ways than one, on 1776 itself. Among such odious usurpations one finds a common ground that all Americans can, and should stand, regardless of party, creed, or lack thereof: The rights of the individual must be guaranteed or all else is but disingenuous posturing.

(This article was orginally posted at Discover West Alabama)

*Baughman, Regan,et al., "Slippery When Wet: The Effects of Local Alcohol Access on Highway Saftey" Journal of Health Economics 20 (2001):1089-1096.
**Gary, Sarah Lynn Schulte, et al., "Consideration of Driver Home County Prohibition and Alcohol-Related Vehicle Crashes," Accident Analysis and Prevention 35 (2003):641-648