20051118

But is moonshine still OK?


West Virginia is reining in excessive alcohol consumption -- the kind you get from overproofed drinks.

Simply put, if the alcoholic beverage is 190 proof (95 percent alcohol), it's out.

The push for such a government ruling came from colleges, law enforcement and community groups. It makes West Virginia one of at least a dozen states with such limitations.

Carla Lapelle, a dean at Marshall University, in Huntington, WVa, said the alcohol is not something you drink at a cocktail party. Rather, she said, college students buy it "intent on getting very drunk."

The Associated Press notes that at least a dozen other states ban or limit the sale of 190-proof grain alcohol, and that neighboring Pennsylvania and Virginia, for instance, sell it only for medicinal or commercial use, and require a permit for its purchase.

The ruling obviously was expected to be made because the state's Alcohol Beverage Control Administration already had stopped stocking 190-proof grain alcohol at its warehouse, which provides all liquor sold in the state. And, a month earlier it asked liquor retailers to remove the product from their shelves.

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