Opinion: Extending alcohol sales past 2 a.m. would have predictable, deadly consequences for California

To the editor: The Times Editorial Board supports allowing local governments to set alcohol sales times past 2 a.m. The goal, it claims, is to improve “night-time economies” of bars and clubs and enhance city “nightlife scenes.” (“Extend last call to 4 a.m. in California? We’ll drink to that,” editorial, Aug. 30)

That’s a fine goal, but the editors dismiss the very real concerns of other local and concerned stakeholders — neighboring residents and merchants, local police and city officials, and health and social service providers. These concerns should have been identified and the editorial should have cautioned readers to consider them carefully.

It is especially concerning that The Times cited no meaningful studies. In fact, a major Norwegian study found that for every hour of extended serving, there was a 16% increase in police-reported assaults, and a recent assessment of 14 studies of enhanced “trading hours” found it was generally associated with higher incidences of alcohol-related harm.

So, what kind of “enhanced nightlife scene” can we truly anticipate? Expect more violence, more medical problems, more heavy drinking, more DUIs, greater disruption to nearby residential neighborhoods and overburdened local police.

Steven Bloch, Laguna Niguel

Friedner Wittman, Berkeley

The writers are members of the California Strategic Highway Safety Plan Impaired Driving Committee.

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To the editor: While I understand the argument for more individual freedom and increased commerce when alcohol sales are extended into the wee hours, I must make a counterpoint.

As an entertainer who has worked in bars, hotels and casinos in California, Nevada and Alaska, I have observed the effects of late-night drinking firsthand. As drunk as patrons were at 2 a.m., they were twice as inebriated at 3. When alcohol service was extended to 5 a.m. in Alaska, there was hardly a word to describe the state of the revelers.

In Nevada, where the partying is done mostly in casinos that have hotel rooms and security, there is no problem with around-the-clock drinking. In Alaska, where most of the towns are small, very drunk patrons don’t have far to go and usually personally know someone nearby.

In Los Angeles, where the freeways already are full of drunks at 3 a.m., extending drinking hours past 2 a.m. would put many inebriated drivers onto the roads just as the very early risers are on their way to work. This is, literally, a matter of life and death.

Paul Moser III, Palm Desert

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