Our View: A booze ban sure would create a lot of highly
unnecessary hassle for the average Sunday afternoon picnic. Gee,
maybe we should try enforcing existing alcohol laws first.
The proposal to enact an ordinance to further restrict liquor consumption at Christmas Hill and Las Animas Parks consists of three sections: all of them bad ideas.
Section 1: to require a permit to consume alcohol at either of the parks. Would the permit cost money? If so, how much? How long would it take to obtain such a permit? Any permitting whatsoever would make it harder for a family to wake up on Saturday morning and say, “Hey, it’s a beautiful day. Let’s have a picnic in the park. Sandwiches, check. Sodas for the kids, check. A bottle of wine for mom and dad …”
Section 2: to ban all hard liquor in the parks. Could someone please explain why a margarita is so much more evil than a glass of wine?
Surely it is the behavior of the consumer that should determine whether alcohol consumption is socially acceptable, not the variety consumed.
Section three: to ban alcohol at all youth events where a majority of the participants are under the age of 21. What about a 10th birthday party, where the host and hostess would like to serve the adults beer with their hot dogs, while the majority of the guests, average age 10, guzzle punch and break open the piñata?
This ordinance is being proposed in response to complaints about public drunkenness and vandalism. Surely a more appropriate response is to use the tools we have: arrest people who are drunk and disorderly in public.
There is a huge difference between the use of alcohol, and the abuse of it. This country tried banning alcohol. That prohibition was overturned.
Why should it be illegal to consume a legal substance in a socially acceptable way in the city’s parks?
Parenthetically, we suggest that if any ordinance is to be considered, why not consider lifting the ban on alcohol consumption at neighborhood parks?
The only effect of the proposed ordinance will be to infringe on the rights of law-abiding citizens to enjoy the parks we pay taxes to support. We urge the Parks Commission to withdraw their proposal.
Failing that, we urge the City Council to vote no on this ordinance.
