We’ve all been dumped, found ourselves eating ice cream straight out of the carton and sipping brandy while watching “Golden Girls” reruns.
OK, maybe that’s just me.
However, if Louisiana lawmakers pull through on a new bill, alcohol-infused frozen treats might be at a store near you before summer is up.
There will be no need to hold a carton and a bottle anymore. This frees up a hand for tissues to dry one’s tears.
HB471 has been taking some flack as legislators quarrel, but if passed, it would allow Louisiana grocers to stock alcoholic ice cream and other frozen goodies.
Other states are already on board with this idea; some have been for quite some time.
Rep. Ray Garofalo said he worries about a loophole in the bill that might allow minors to have the ability to buy products with alcoholic-content. The bill was pulled until an age-requirement was added to the purchase of frozen alcoholic products.
It’s high time that this state sets aside useless pieces of legislation dealing with education reform and poverty to take on things of greater importance like booze-laced Neapolitan ice cream and all its wonders.
These lawmakers should have initially thought about age requirements for the purchase of these products in the bill’s first stages.
Naturally, I do not want to see minors buying something along the lines of “Gin and Berries” thinking they were getting Ben and Jerry’s.
Alcohol is used in various recipes and is a big part of the culinary world. The alcohol usually is evaporated out of the food when it is cooked and has little to no measurable content.
This is not the case with the ice cream. Therefore, I support making strict age restrictions on who can purchase the stuff.
SnoBar Cocktails is a line of alcoholic ice-pops and ice cream started in Arizona. The company assures that each serving of SnoBar ice-pops and ice cream has the same alcohol percentage of a full cocktail.
For Louisiana, one of the brands hoping to make it in grocery store freezers is Buzz Bar. Buzz Bar’s ice cream bars are made with whiskey among other alcohols. Now that’s something I’d try sitting beside the pool while reading some Hemingway.
Buzz Bar’s ice cream has a rather low alcoholic content.
This is a point the company’s lobbyist tried to make last Thursday to go ahead and push the bill through.
Certainly the content is not as high as other competitors’ in the new industry, but I believe no exceptions should be made on the purchase of any product with alcoholic content. This goes for fruitcake too.
I’ve heard some crazy things in my day, and if the youth of America keeps partying on like Wayne and Garth, a purchase age might have to be added to Dr. Tichenor’s mouthwash.
All in all, the folks down at the Capitol are doing the right thing by reassessing the situation and adding age restrictions to the products among other things.
However, this kind of thing should not create the conundrum it did. Should more serious legislation continue being set on the back burner for trifles like this, I will be eating an entire tub of whatever has the best bourbon in it to drown my woes because of this state’s foolish lawmakers.
Justin Stafford is a 21-year-old mass communication junior from Walker, La.