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News & ArtsFriday, March 13, 2009
City It Just Got a Little Harder to Get Drunk By Noon
Posted by Jonah Spangenthal-Lee on Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 3:46 PM
The city of Seattle has added additional restrictions to the city’s Alcohol Impact Area program—which bans sales of certain high-alcohol, low cost malt liquors in neighborhoods like Belltown, Capitol Hill, the University District and the International District, which have had problems with public intoxication and chronic inebriates—which is going to make it a lot tougher to get drunk in the middle of the day.
In January, the city signed an agreement with local liquor distributors who will apparently lean on retailers to stop selling single cans and bottles of high-alcohol beers between 6am and 1pm.
The city of Kent has instituted a ban on single-serving sales which has, according to Mayor Greg Nickels' spokesman Alex Fryer, yielded positive results.
Retailers will still be able to sell high-alcohol beers in six-packs, but the city believes the ban on single servings will have an impact on public intoxication. "Kent had said this worked and there had been demonstrably less chronic inebriates," Fryer says. "It may not work. It may be something that [only] works for Kent, but we thought we’d give it a try."
According to documents related to the agreement, beer distributors—who brought the idea to the city last year—will apparently be in charge of monitoring the ban.
The city has also added a number of drinks—including Camo Black Ice, Ice House, Johnny Bootlegger, Joose, Tilt Green, Sparks Turbo, Sparks Plus, Big Bear, Four Max, Liquid Charge, 3 Sum and Maximum Ice—to the lists of beverages banned in AIA areas.
2
@1 Speaking as a resident of the U-District, I think they're probably targeting the chronic inebriates who beg for change until they have enough to go buy a can of malt liquor, then beg for change until they can afford another one. True, by the end of the day it probably would've been more economical to just buy a six-pack, but there's no sense of immediate gratification in that.
3
Oh, great, crack down on them there and they'll migrate to Fremont and litter my front yard - thanks a lot!
5
As someone who's never had a hankering for malt liquor, the names of those brands affected are sort of funny.
8
Fremont could use a little spice, a handful of messy inebriates would liven up the place. Right now the neighborhood looks like "Stuff White People Like" come to life.
10
This is a good step. There are number of shops whose business model is to sell cheap booze to street alcholics and profit while they suffer and die on the streets - and repeat.
The rest of us get to pick up the empties and the bill for the emergency rooms and funeral homes.
If you need to get drunk by 9 AM you need to be cut off.
The rest of us get to pick up the empties and the bill for the emergency rooms and funeral homes.
If you need to get drunk by 9 AM you need to be cut off.
11
the do gooders are still active
of course, supply is NOT the question for hardcore alkys...
in in a depression, god forbid, getting a bit looped due to all the stress...
Can we ban ALL cocktails, HARD booze before noon as well... Downtown can reschedule lunch breaks...
JUST A QUESTION - are food banks well stocked for the much increased need in the coming months?
I wonder ... and I doubt it ...
Hungry children and unhappy drunks ... while city hall dithers
of course, supply is NOT the question for hardcore alkys...
in in a depression, god forbid, getting a bit looped due to all the stress...
Can we ban ALL cocktails, HARD booze before noon as well... Downtown can reschedule lunch breaks...
JUST A QUESTION - are food banks well stocked for the much increased need in the coming months?
I wonder ... and I doubt it ...
Hungry children and unhappy drunks ... while city hall dithers
12
I'm all for limiting access if it will help with the chronic inebriate problem. Howevah, if anyone suggests that we ban all alcohol sales before noon will feel my wrath if I can't get a Bloody Mary or a mimosa while dodging invasive questions at a family brunch.
13
I actually wish they'd impose a heavier tax on single serving cans/bottles where I live. I don't think it'd generate nearly enough money to go toward treatment, but the increase in revenue could be put toward clean in areas most affected by chronic street inebriates. A quarter (give or take) a can could go a long way for the city.
Full disclosure: I occasionally buy single cans/bottles of wine and drink them in the park. It's a fine activity, as long as you exercise the care to clean up after yourself, and only pee in the restroom.
Full disclosure: I occasionally buy single cans/bottles of wine and drink them in the park. It's a fine activity, as long as you exercise the care to clean up after yourself, and only pee in the restroom.
14
What about wine? If someone would step up and start marketing a one-dollar 750ml bottle of red wine, 15% alcohol (not that much cheaper than Three Buck Chuck, and a familiar sight in France), the street drunks could switch to that, and there wouldn't be a thing any government could do about it.
17
Isn't this rather classist and ageist?
In Ballard, I saw some woman buying like 4 of these at 7am.
She was white and middle aged.
That's fucking bullshit.
In Ballard, I saw some woman buying like 4 of these at 7am.
She was white and middle aged.
That's fucking bullshit.
19
What I don't get is why there are so many different brands of malt liquor in the first place? Do they really taste so different from each other that there's actually some sort of brand loyalty on the part of their probably-not-too-discriminating consumers?
20
Same reason there's so many brands of cigarettes, Comte. About half of all the intellectual energy of the country is going towards marketing these brands in a hot and competitive battle.
21
I suspect that Kent has a secret deep-bore tunnel into which they are throwing all their winos, so's to make themselves look good 'n' all.
22
there are still spots to get your Four Loko on all day long (try the Dragonfruit 24oz can, it goes great with Ezell's), all I'm going to say is they joints on the edges of some of the neighborhoods mentioned.
and that the some of the clerks may or may not take bribes to bend the rules.
and that the some of the clerks may or may not take bribes to bend the rules.
24
There is a gas station a few blocks from me in Fremont that sells 18 packs of Ice House for $7 or $8. Because of it, we already have the drunken homeless circling it all day like flies around a bug zapper.
25
Once again, Nickels and co lift one fat finger to support the sensibilities of affluent condo owners and gentrifiers everywhere while the city's infrastructure still crumbles.
Glad to see your priorities are in the right place, fatass.
But on-topic, I imagine this will work about as effectively as the earlier "Let's ban obvious black brands of malt liquor" campaign did. Now that I can no longer see Lando Carlrissian's smiling face hawking cans of Colt .45, the drunks, the transients, and the crusties have all been hitting Camo. Take that away, they'll just find some other brand. Better yet, I imagine an influx of new brews to offset sale. Of course, we can always just become the next Utah.
Never trust a state whose moral guidebook seems to be run by fucking protestants.
Glad to see your priorities are in the right place, fatass.
But on-topic, I imagine this will work about as effectively as the earlier "Let's ban obvious black brands of malt liquor" campaign did. Now that I can no longer see Lando Carlrissian's smiling face hawking cans of Colt .45, the drunks, the transients, and the crusties have all been hitting Camo. Take that away, they'll just find some other brand. Better yet, I imagine an influx of new brews to offset sale. Of course, we can always just become the next Utah.
Never trust a state whose moral guidebook seems to be run by fucking protestants.
27
With the new changes going into effect those living in the areas affected by the AIA need hold the local convenience stores accountable if they try to side step this ordinance by selling new high alcohol beers not currently on the list. City Market on Bellvue st. was quoted in the Seattle Weekly as saying the only reason they sell newer high alcohol beverages not on the list is to avoid losing business to the surrounding competition. I wish the convenience stores in my neighborhood would grow a pair and take the initiative to agree not to sell these beverages on their own, but this will never happen. These stores have had the opportunity to form such a coalition for close to 10 years but have failed to do it, so please save the complaining for somebody else- we are all tired of suffering from your reckless profiteering from transient drunks.
28
@19 - An industry with little product loyalty or differentiation actually encourages brand proliferation - if 90% of customers pick a brand more or less at random, you're clearly going to sell more if you have more brands. It also provides a barrier to entry for new firms since they have little means to differentiate their product and they'll get a lower share of the random purchases.
@27 - It seems like any voluntary agreement like that would fall apart pretty quickly, each of them would have a huge incentive to back out or cheat somehow and be the only one in the area selling it.
This all seems a little silly anyways, it's not like homeless people don't have free bus passes and a fuckton of spare time.
@27 - It seems like any voluntary agreement like that would fall apart pretty quickly, each of them would have a huge incentive to back out or cheat somehow and be the only one in the area selling it.
This all seems a little silly anyways, it's not like homeless people don't have free bus passes and a fuckton of spare time.
29
This is just an attempt to sweep the problem under the rug. Homeless alcoholics will still be homeless alcoholics whether or not they can buy Joose in Belltown at 9 AM.
Why don't we see the mayor pushing programs like subsidized housing for alcoholics and the homeless? Right, because that would take actual work instead of easy moralistic judgements about the causes of poverty and disease.
Why don't we see the mayor pushing programs like subsidized housing for alcoholics and the homeless? Right, because that would take actual work instead of easy moralistic judgements about the causes of poverty and disease.
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