A DRY COUNTY OR A WET ONE?
Why is Craighead County dry? There are a
lot of reasons, but the main one is back in the early days of WWII, the county
had held a vote which included the topic of this county being wet or dry. The
story is that most of the men were off fighting and the women were the main
factor in the vote, therefore, the county was voted dry. This is the reason we
are in the situation we are in now.
There has been an explosion of arguments about this county
becoming wet. The latest issue was with the Chili’s and Outback Steakhouse
restaurant chains coming to Jonesboro. Both of these companies normally serve
alcohol at their other locations, but not in Jonesboro. Both of the liquor
licenses were denied at the board meeting in Little Rock. Still, the popular
restaurants keep coming, and most of them normally serve alcohol.
The reason, I believe, for this county not being wet again is
because most of the people who are really pushing the issue (besides
businessmen) are younger and of a totally different generation than those who
are actually making the laws. The reason for this subject being kept out of the
vote is because of the fear of those who oppose it that it will be passed. And
it just so happens that these are the people who have most of the money and/or
the power to keep it this way.
Some of the reasons these people give are: crime in the
county will go up, traffic accidents involving drunk drivers will go up, the
amount of minors who drink will also rise, among others. Some reasons are
somewhat justified, however, if these people really open their eyes, the
problems listed are already there. The fact that there are drunk drivers out
there is real and if you want to drink in Jonesboro, all you have to do is go to
one of the four or five bars town and pay a five-dollar membership fee. If you
don’t mind the drive, a liquor store is about fifteen miles out of town north
or south. As for the crime, the ones committing these crimes out of a alcoholic
stupor need to be removed from the streets anyway. Then, you have the problem of
minors drinking, I could get alcohol at the age of fourteen. If you don’t
want your kids to drink keep a better watch over them.
The problems are already here, and the alcohol is available
if the want is there. And I honestly don’t believe that everyone who has a
drink is going to go out and steal something, or be irresponsible enough to get
into a car after he or she had slammed back a few cold ones. These guys are
looking for any reason they can to keep things the way they are, but if the
younger population gets a say in this, I think things will be quite different.