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Faulkner County: Wet or Dry?

Wet

Maybe it'll be better for commerce. Perhaps businesses can start selling alcohol and bring more taxpaying dollars to benefit Faulkner County. Maybe it'll cut down on drunk driving in some way - no longer will students (and adults) drive across the county line to acquire alcohol, and they won't be attempting to get back to Faulkner County from the Little Rock club scene while extremely intoxicated. Perhaps a wet county would discourage binge drinking - now, young people create expansive liquor lists for the weekend because they have to trek out of the county to purchase alcohol, and they fail to practice any safe form of moderation. Maybe if all they had to do was go to a local liquor store, they'd buy a few beers or a bottle of wine and drink with responsible moderation.

Dry

Or maybe not. Maybe having liquor readily available in the county will disrupt its moral fiber and make it easier for people to deviate from their established beliefs. Maybe they'll have easier access to alcohol and it will erupt into more drinking, more drunk driving, more danger for the county as a whole. Perhaps kids growing up in the county will see their older counterparts imbibing more often and spur a tradition of Southern alcoholishm. Maybe local police forces will have to increase efforts to contain unsafe drinking practices as well as underage drinking. Maybe it will, as a whole, make the county less durable and safe.

You decide

We've gathered statistics, personal statements and other information so you can decide for yourself whether you think this county should become wet. Currently it's damp - there are no liquor stores, but several restaurants have acquired liquor licenses and can serve alcohol through a private club loophole. We talked with servers at these restaurants about the implications that has for their industry, and we've talked to Honors and other students about what direction they'd like to see the county take. So navigate the site using the sidebar to the left, assimilate the information for yourself and make your own decision.

For this purpose, we've gathered several different kinds of information for your perusal. First you'll see the health benefits and drawbacks of alcohol, including other pros and cons of drinking that aren't necessarily directly related to short- and long-term health benefits.

We've included information about what is generally considered moderate drinking, though these things do vary from person to person.

You can read up on Arkansas legislative action as far is liquor licenses, and we've included information about who to talk to so you can find out about getting your own business a liquor license in the state.

The next two sections are where students speak out. Honors students and a variety of other students all gave snippets of their views on whether the county should remain dry or become wet. These are views from the college-aged students who constitute a large portion of the Conway community.

We also contacted managers and wait staff at local restaurants that serve alcohol to see if their jobs have gotten harder or if they think the restaurants are banking due to new alcohol policies.

Last, we have information that's pertinent to students: UCA's alcohol policy, an interview with a UCAPD officer and information about what possible sanctions someone caught drinking underage, drinking and driving, etc., can face.

With that, we hope you can decide for yourself whether you think the county should be wet or dry.