alcohol and scouting

I agree with most of what has been said already in this thread, but there is
one point not yet mentioned (unless I missed it) which bothers me most.

LIABILITY: Assuming there is some sort of injury to a scout (unrelated to
alcohol consumption or not) and we end up in court with attorney Joe
Slimeball: "Excuse me, Mr. Scoutmaster, but are you telling this court that
you were consuming ALCOHOL while responsible for the HEALTH and SAFTEY of
these poor young boys? Is it your habit to participate in substance abuse
while in a position of responsibility??" And even if you are off BSA
property and in civilian clothes: "Do you mean to tell us that you left
those poor your boys whose parents trusted you with their welfare to go
DRINKING in a downtown BAR??"

In this litigous age, there is no such thing as a "harmless" activity as far
as the legal system is concerned. Extracting an unruly kid from a tree with
his mother as a witness resulted in a charge of child abuse at our day camp
last year and the issue has not yet been fully resolved. I'm afraid the
consumption of a single beer could easily be manipulated into negligence on
the part of the volunteer, and if Scouting knew of this person's 'habit' of
"drinking while on duty", would show negligence on the part of BSA as well.

Better not to take the chance.

Jim Holman
I used to be a bear......

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