Wow.. and I thought Oklahoma was backward

[buttrfli]

because we are the only state where getting tattoo's is illegal and that it WAS illegal to gamble (even in your home)...
~
ROCKPORT, Mass. (AP) - With a vodka martini and two onions, Peter Beacham toasted a new era for this quaint seaside town. Besides a brief period after Prohibition ended in 1933, liquor hadn't been sold in Rockport since pre-Civil War days. That changed when voters in April decided to grant liquor licenses to restaurants and inns. Supporters of the effort to repeal the ban celebrated Tuesday at Emerson Inn by the Sea, the first Rockport establishment to obtain a liquor license.

"People come from all over the world to Rockport. They want to have a drink with their meal," said Beacham, who led the movement to legalize liquor sales and bought the first drink. "This town needs to be ready for today's tourists."

Six other liquor license applications are pending in the northern Massachusetts town, a hotspot in summer when the 7,000 year-round population triples. The law still prohibits any bars or liquor stores.

Bruce Coates, owner of the Emerson Inn, said restaurant patrons had been allowed to bring in their own alcohol before the law changed, but many tourists grew impatient with having to go to nearby Gloucester and other towns.

"It was driving the built-in business away," Coates said. "The Americans got frustrated. The Europeans didn't believe what you were saying. They were all quite surprised."

Rockport went dry in 1856, when legend has it that 75-year-old Hannah Jumper led a group of 200 women around town smashing liquor bottles out of concern that men were spending too much of their earnings on rum.

Heidi Zander, an artist and gallery owner who grew up in Rockport, said the town has changed over the years, with older residents selling their homes and higher-income people moving in.

Many who commute to work in Boston 40 miles to the south have different habits, said Zander, who added that she's neutral on the alcohol issue.

"They're not bad people. They're cultured people. They want a glass of wine when they go out," she said.

Opponents to easing the ban had said they feared it would lead to bars, bar fights and increased traffic that would erode the town's character. A phone number for the group Keep Rockport Dry was disconnected Tuesday.

But there were no problems on Day 1, according to Rockport police. "There have been no reported incidents at all," officer Robert Hickey said.

[justme23]

There are dry counties all over the country... so I guess the ????? factor is going off in my head. I guess I am missing the point.

[buttrfli]

Never heard of a dry county before. There was no "point" .. I was just saying that it seemed backward to me.... being that I have never heard of a dry county before (or did I already say that?)

[JKATHERINE]

Dry counties are so backwards. I've heard of it before, but really it seems quite silly. It doesn't really serve any purpose but to take away business from one area and displace it to another. Not to mention that many teens in dry counties end up drinking even more because of the strict prohibition.

Now, illegal tattoos? WTH's with that? What is their reasoning for making them illegal? I'd LOVE to hear this one. :p

[PreciousDarlin]

Never heard of a dry county before. There was no "point" .. I was just saying that it seemed backward to me.... being that I have never heard of a dry county before (or did I already say that?)


Ya know, I live in a dry county. It is illegal to sell alcohol anywhere in this county EXCEPT the county seat (and largest town in this county). Madisonville was voted wet about 10 years ago now, but the rest of the county remains dry. Now tell me, how much sense does THAT make??

[buttrfli]

They have been illegal since the late 1800's .. I have no idea why though LOL Every couple of years a bill comes up to make it legal, but the bills always dies in congress and we don't even get to vote (whats with that??)

Over the past 3 years tattoo shops have been able to "skirt" the law and we now have all kinds of tattoo shops. The law is that you can't have ink permanently placed on your skin, sooooo if you want a tattoo here, you have to sign a legal form explaining that you understand that the tattoo is not permanent (because you can get it removed with laser treatment lol) ... one of the shops got busted not to long after opening (they were one of the 1st) and the legal documents held up in court and the charges were dropped against the owner and no other shop has been busted.

Now that we have all kinds of shops being able to get around the law, the big problem is that since it is illegal, none are regulated by the health department. So the shops don't have to follow any of the health laws. All of the shops I have been to follow health regulations verbatim, but there are a few that are still "back alley" shops and don't follow any sort of health codes.... and by our congressmen not allowing the bill to make it legal pass the house, they are just inviting all kinds of freaky deekys to open back alley shops, not foallow any heath codes and possibly be transfering all kinds of diseases to people getting tattoo's... (can you tell I am passionate about this? LOL)

Its all stupid. Luckily the serious shops know the health regulations and are steril and clean. Once someone found a loophole, about 20 different shops opened within a year LOL

Before the loophole, you either had to go out of state to get one, or know someone who knows someone who has a brother who's kid can do it for you in their basement (funny, but true)

[buttrfli]

Just wanted to add this story from a local paper:

In Our View: Regulating tattoos

4/21/05

Oklahoma has the toughest tattoo law the land. Simply put, it makes
tattooing illegal. A bill appearing before the House Health and Human
Resources Committee would have lifted the ban and imposed sanitary
regulations on those who do the tattooing. Unfortunately, it was never
heard.

The fact is that people will get tattoos, whether they are legal or not, and
body artists will ink those designs even though they could face misdemeanor
charges. What the bill would have done is make it safer for those who get
tattoos by legalizing and regulating the industry.

Supporting the proposal were the Oklahoma Department of Health and
physicians' groups, according to The Associated Press. They fear that using
dirty needles, for instance, could spread life-threatening diseases.

According to the AP, Oklahoma has seen a 78 percent increase in hepatitis C
infections between 2000 and 2003. Thirty-four percent of those infected had
tattoos. A 2004 outbreak of hepatitis B in one Oklahoma county may be linked
to unsanitary home tattooing.

The bill should be taken up and sent to the House for consideration. Maybe
this isn't a major health issue for some legislators. But health
professionals believe that it is.

~

As some of you may or may not know, YankeeMary's brother died as a result of getting hep C from getting a tattoo. All the more reason it should be legal and the shops regulated by the health dept.

[cinnamonch]

Buttrfli

Dont know how long you've been in Oklahoma but we used to be that way too. Matter of fact where they make Jack Daniels is a dry county - now go figure that one out.

[buttrfli]

Buttrfli

Dont know how long you've been in Oklahoma but we used to be that way too. Matter of fact where they make Jack Daniels is a dry county - now go figure that one out.

I was born and raised here BUT I have never known anything about "dry counties" if Oklahoma was dry, it must have been before my time or I have never lived in one... I was born and raised in washington county and lived in tulsa county for the last 14 years.

All new to me! LOL :D

[schsa]

My parents live in a dry county. But South Carolina has to be the most backward because until this year, we had a mini bottle law. All drinks had to be mixed from mini bottles. Talk about expensive drinking!

[JKATHERINE]

As some of you may or may not know, YankeeMary's brother died as a result of getting hep C from getting a tattoo. All the more reason it should be legal and the shops regulated by the health dept.

No, actually, I didn't know that. That's very sad. I'm sorry to hear that, Mary. :(

[Willow]

Every time we go to Salem there is always someone talking about Rockport and how quaint the town is. I would like to go there someday. I didn't realize they were a dry county. Tattoos are illegal in Massachusetts or at least they used to be. Anyone who wanted a tattoo would have to go to Rhode Island and get it done. The same for piercings. The only thing you could get pierced in Massachusetts was your ears. You would have to go to one of the tattoo/piercing shops in Rhode Island to get anything else pierced. The laws may have changed but I know that used to be the way it was.

[buttrfli]

Every time we go to Salem there is always someone talking about Rockport and how quaint the town is. I would like to go there someday. I didn't realize they were a dry county. Tattoos are illegal in Massachusetts or at least they used to be. Anyone who wanted a tattoo would have to go to Rhode Island and get it done. The same for piercings. The only thing you could get pierced in Massachusetts was your ears. You would have to go to one of the tattoo/piercing shops in Rhode Island to get anything else pierced. The laws may have changed but I know that used to be the way it was.

There have been 2 states in the past few years that have finally legalized tattoo's (I actaully believe one of them was passes just a few months ago) .... we are the last state in the nation where its still illegal :(

[justme23]

I grew up in a dry county -- I live in Dallas and part of this county is dry. We used to joke and call it the wettest dry county in the country -- cause the constable (and the preacher of the biggest Baptist church in town -- I wish I were makin that up!!!) own the county line liquor stores and do their best to keep the liquor out... but, they do serve alcohol in every restraunt and club in the county -- so go figure.

I guess I didn't know that there weren't more dry counties... maybe it's mostly a Texas thing -- a lot of our counties are still dry. One thing is for certain though, we didn't drink any more or less than the kids in the surounding wet counties. It was illegal for all of us, no matter where we lived... so it still all boiled down to who you knew that could get it.

[Kyla Kym]

I have always lived in a dry county.

Justme you might find this odd since the last time I checked Texas still didn't have a law on how much booze you could tote around with you in a car. Arkansas has a limit. I think it's only 1 case of beer, & one gallon of hard liquor. Anymore than that and it gets taken away from you.

We live in a tourist area that stays packed with Texans. It just makes me sick during the holidays when the Texans are trying to come camping here and they bring enough beer to last a week or so and if they go through an Arkansas road block they get it all taken away.

People look at you like your nuts when they ask where is the closest liquor store and I tell them about an hour from here.

There are a few though that are brave enough to bootleg. I don't know why though, because if they get caught it will eat up all their profits trying to pay the fines.

[justme23]

Now that's something I'd never heard of -- no limit here that I know of -- but you DO have to put every drop (open or not) in the trunk or bed of the truck. Even if the seal is still intact, if it is w/in the reach of the driver or any minor -- it goes... we (me and best friend) found that out the hard way when we got hauled downtown from the county line when we were 15 just because we didn't put the bottle in the trunk of the car. It was sealed and had no intention of opening it right there. Talk about scare the crap out of a bunch of kids! We got MIPs (minor in possession) and everyone else in the car got ticketed for providing alcohol to minors.