Kututha

Back in my high school days on the slopes of mount kenya, comrades spoke a peculiar tongue. A conversation between classmates would leave everyone around them "floating". The vocabulary consisted of a mishmash of words, sarcasm and cartoonish sounds. Beans were mbokio and tea was muhuwa. Kututha meant an epic fail. Kututha meant a walking pile of jokes who provided opportunities for his boys to "shine with him". Insults akin to verbal murder would be inspired, sometimes to even be immortalized on the back of a door in some ablution somewhere. Mututho just Tuthad.

While the alcohol control bill was supposed to fight underage drinking, poisonous concotions and encourage some responsibility, it did the exact opposite. It was a step too far. The spirit was willing but the flesh says otherwise. See, the thing about alcohol or tobacco or any other habit that the politically correct try to demonise is a matter of choice. you could replace alcohol brand names and just have bottles with huge warning signs on them and people would still drink. You could put real cancerous tumors in cigarette packets as a warning but people will still smoke. No one has accused humanity of being perfect. To a lot of people, these are just parts of a bigger picture.
In 1917 when America was in the throes of protestantism, a law was passed that came to be known as The Prohibition. The gist of this law was pretty much the same as Mututho's law. Sales of alcohol were strictly prohibited. The American senate realised that the media hype lay in bowing to the pressure of the temperance movement(google it!) and the Eighteenth Amendment was passed on December 18, 1917.
The clergy rejoiced as politicians basked in the hot glow of studio lamps. Squeezing every bit of political exposure from the experience. The police force was also quick to milk some PR from this and the daily newspapers were filled with images of efficient looking officers putting people under arrest as the 7 o clock news bulletin brought their no nonsense spokesman threatening thugs and promising the full force of the law on the newly created criminal class. Afternoon drinks were illegal and bars had to close down. Alcohol manufacturers reduced production and fired employees. For a while, it seemed like the wad was winning. Forcibly sobered drinkers sat around like turtles left on dry land out of their shells awaiting every drop they could get. But you know how elastic politicians are and just how elastic christians have become these days. And before you stone me, i said christians not clergy. Those folks on sunday in nice clothes and church programmes clutched in their hands like the ticket to heaven. The same guy from whose office 12 million shillings of taxpayers money will mysteriously disappear and the same chick who has a "spa" appointment on tuesday as her stressed husband contemplates robbery. Holy face on sunday then back to iniquity on monday. Heck, no-one's perfect. That's why God is a forgiving father, true love's about the bitter with the sweetness.
Selling of alcohol was illegal but people retained the right to do whatever they pleased with themselves. Essentially you could drink but the government would do its darndest to ensure that you had no access to alcohol. There's an old saying, one mans meat is another mans poison. You see, there are some people who wait for opportunity to knock while others actively prepare to receive their guest. A few enterprising characters, the best known of whom is Alfonso Capone, geared to fill the supply vacuum. Gangsters set about bribing cops and financing political campaigns for pliable politicians. They also set up hidden distilleries and created smuggling lanes that were the envy of legitimate merchants. Loopholes were found in the law and soon business was booming. Distribution included smuggling, hijacking of legitimate alcohol shipments( Canada was still happily tipsy and so were the south american neighbours) and illegal breweries. Men who ritualy stopped for a pint turned to the more easily available hard liquor and took to drinking at home. Imagine the strain on families. The more adventerous ones ventured into brewing home concotions that were never really sure if they wanted to be beer or whisky or porridge. Sinister dregs in the bottom of cups. It was legal to serve alcohol in a public show of some sort so 'blind pig shows' mushroomed. People paid a certain entrance fee at the venue to view some exotic object or creature (ergo, blind pig) and were served with complimentary drinks. Of course the entrance fee was suspiciously close to the cost or drinks.
Soon the nation went back to the natural rythm and people kept drinking. Meanwhile, the government was losing one of her favorite revenue sources, the sin tax levied on alcohol. The police rapidly went back to their patent indifference as they pursued 'real' crime. The young FBI turned its nose up on this debate and corruption thrived, keeping lots of people happy.
By 1933, the charade was stopped. The law was repealed and almost overnight, things changed. Being a drinker didn't make you a criminal and mobsters lost nearly all profits from illegal booze. Cheap, legal alcohol was now available and people could go about to the more important issues.
However, there's a happy ending to this (sort of). The USA has many social programs in place offering support to alcoholics and encouraging responsibility. They have strict measures against drunk driving and a tightly regulated industry.
This is where Mututho has tuthad, treating symptoms doesn't cure the disease(i've watched enough House M.D to know). Alcoholism and irresponsible drinking are personal issues while underage drinking is a social issue. Until you fight the cause, the problem is here to stay.