Government data has found that teenage consumption of alcohol is on the decline, and one of the contributing factors seems to be improved education on the risks of over-consumption. Why do you support total prohibition, as opposed to education on how to drink responsibly?
"Education is the beginning of the political process in dealing with any issue. For example, people always knew that smoking was harmful (education), but there was no significant decrease in smoking until smoking became socially unacceptable and was actively opposed by governments at all levels (prohibition).
"To drink 'responsibly' is to drink Adam's Ale -- water. Virtually all drinkers of alcohol think they are drinking 'responsibly,' regardless of their level of consumption. That's PR fluff designed to neutralize the issue and maintain alcohol pushers' profits."
The vast majority of your membership is over the age of 60. What are the challenges that come with running a party without a youth movement, and how are you trying to attract younger supporters? Is there a concern that the Prohibition Party might be on its last legs?
"My greatest concern. I'm making tentative initiatives in social media, although I don't know enough about it to get full benefit from it. (I need to be tutored by some teen-agers.) We are getting a bit of interest from young people. When we do, I try to find a way to get them involved, so they'll bond with us and hang around. I have people doing Twitter and Facebook, for example. I'm also trying to present the Prohibition Party as living history, rather than as an influential organization -- people find that realistic and believable, whereas if we tell them we're the wave of the future, they laugh and leave."
Your party is obviously opposed to vice in all of its forms. What vice are you most tempted to indulge in your day-to-day life? Be honest!
"I'm a scofflaw. I never use a seat belt (an anti-government statement), I do my own home repairs without bothering to get building permits (a benefit of living in a remote location), I eat too much chocolate (marginally overweight), I use foul language when I'm among friends. Oh yeah, and when my granddaughter was little, I taught her how to swear in foreign languages, so she could say whatever she wanted to in school without offending the teacher."