With the opening of casinos in Massachusetts approaching in the near future, and with them the prospect of free alcoholic beverages, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission has been considering whether or not they should relax the restrictions against other bars in the state serving discounted drinks. I wrote about the ridiculousness of the arguments against it earlier this summer, in a post which you can read below. After a series of public hearings, the ABCC has released its recommendation that Massachusetts bars not be allowed to discount or offer free drinks.
“Public safety was a key factor in conducting this review, and the overwhelming sentiment is that scaling back the ‘happy hour’ regulation would compromise the lives and well-being of the residents of the Commonwealth,” state Treasurer Steve Treasurer, who oversees the ABCC, said in a statement, the Boston Herald reports, making what's either a pretty silly typo, or else simply name-checking the dude with the most appropriate job in the history of names and jobs. (His name is actually Grossman).
The report was the culmination of feedback received at five public hearings held last year in Bridgewater, Chelmsford, Worcester, Boston, and Northampton. The overwhelming consensus expressed at these hearings was that a change in the existing regulation would not only substantially compromise public safety, but would also result in a poor climate in which businesses would operate. Testimony and comments on the matter were offered by liquor licensees, public safety officials, and public interest groups, among others.In other words, slightly cheaper drinks during a particular set of hours during the day will lead to chaos and carnage in the streets, and allowing businesses to compete price-wise is bad for business competition. Read the ABCC's press statement here and the full report here.
All of the members of the restaurant industry in attendance at the meetings seemed to agree that allowing for happy hour would result in, what the report calls, "a race to the bottom."
HAPPY HOUR HOUR ALL NIGHT. FREE DRINKS. RIVERS OF WHISKEY FLOODING THE STREETS. ALCOHOLIC ARMS RACE, CHEAP BEER COLD WAR. All inevitable results of discounting beers during the slowest hours of the day for bars when no one is in them buying anything anyway.
The second paragraph there is particularly comical. One of the reasons it's so expensive to open a bar or restaurant in Mass is specifically because liquor licenses themselves are so cost-prohibitive, supply being artificially limited by the state itself. It would be unfair to the people who've shelled out hundreds of thousands of dollars in a state-sanctioned racket to have to offer a discount to customers.
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Happy Hour is Murder
As I've written about before here, and here, the drinking laws in Massachusetts are archaic and outdated. And as with any system of rules with a bit of history behind them, the management of alcohol in the state has grown gnarled and hardened, like persistent weeds strangling the fruit of the (beer) garden. The discussion we're currently having now, about whether or not happy hour is a good idea, like anything else where money and political grandstanding is at stake, is less about the actual merits of the laws themselves than about whose powerful and connected advocates can use scare tactics to protect their interest in the status quo.
At a recent hearing, as the Boston Herald reports, there was very little vocal support for the return of happy hour, particularly among the restaurant industry representatives in attendance.
“I can’t believe we’re sitting here and having this conversation,” said Steve DiFillippo, founder and owner of Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse and Avila in Boston, who’s opposed to any changes in the current Happy Hour law...“There’s only one reason people go to happy hour, and that’s to get drunk,” DiFillippo said.
Oh weird, check out the listing for Davio's in Philadelphia on Yelp. "Best happy hour," multiple reviewers say. "Great happy hour specials." Apparently DiFillippo doesn't care about the well-being of people in Philly? Can you blame him for that actually? Or is it maybe that restauranteurs like him and the others who are coming out against it don't want to face competition from smaller bars?
What's the difference between Massachusetts and other states anyway? Are people from here simply more prone to hedonism, and incapable of controlling themselves? And more importantly, is there an Irish joke I can make in here somewhere?
Let's take a look at some numbers from recent years. Maybe states with happy hours actually do have more drunk driving incidents than we do here?
In 2010 in Pennsylvania there were 443 alcohol related driving fatalities in 2010. In Massachusetts, by comparison, there were only 114. Pennsylvania has a population over twice the size of ours, but even still, that's four times as many drunk driving deaths. On the other hand, New York state has almost 20 million, far more than PA's 13 million, and they only recorded 365 alcohol related riving deaths that same year. What is New York doing differently?
The Herald story continues:
It’s already hard to manage 21- to 23-year-olds when they’re drinking, and relaxing the happy hour law only would make it worse, according to Austin O’Connor Jr., CEO of Boston’s Briar Group.
“Happy hour is a very bad thing for our industry,” said O’Connor, whose bars and restaurants include City Bar, Ned Devine’s, the Green Briar, the Harp, M.J. O’Connor’s and Anthem Kitchen + Bar. “Happy hour only encourages over-consumption.”
You know what's a good protection against over consumption? Bartenders who actually feel empowered to shut off inebriated guests. I like a lot of O'Connor's bars, but I'm not sure if you've ever been to the Boston bars on a weekend night -- making sure people aren't over-consuming doesn't exactly seem to be a huge priority at many of them.
As to the point about happy hour being for people who want to get drunk fast? Do we really think that a slight decrease in the price of a drink is going to turn us all into maddened, ravaging booze vampires with an unquenchable thirst just because we saved a buck or two? Happy hour, as far as I can tell, is an incentive for people to stop off after work for a drink, and to encourage business at bars and restaurants that are usually dead in the early hours of the night and the early days of the week. Have any of these guys ever been to a bar at the end of the night? That's when people are really trying to get drunk, not at happy hour. You know those darned 21 to 23 year olds, always out drinking at 5 pm, the classic hour for going out when you're young.
It's that end of the night period that's the real issue here, and may have something to do with why New York has relatively fewer alcohol related deaths than other cities: their public transportation system. It's a joke that we expect people in Boston not to drive home after being out for the night when our trains stop running a full hour and a half or more before bars close. You want to seriously address drunk driving? Don't pussy foot around whether or not the price of a beer is going to be $5 or $3 -- people who want to get drunk will get drunk -- but how about providing everyone with a safe means of getting home at night?
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8 comments:
On my chair at my desk, clapping. O'Neil in O'12!!!
VOTE FOR ME I WILL GET YOU DRUNK BUT ONLY MODERATELY SO
"What is New York doing differently?"
Half the people in NYC live in a city with a subway system, for one.
That's what I said didn't I?
Anon " I would bet that the taxi companies also lobby to keep the T closing early. "
I wouldn't be surprised. The point is there's all sorts of interests behind making these things happen, and none of them have to actually do with THINK OF THE CHILDREN type shit.
I actually only started drinking in the afternoon in my late 20's. The argument for the T running later is great and I support it, but what about all the bars out there in every state that you literally HAVE to drive to? That's the great hypocracy in all this. If the "powers that be" don't want us to drive drunk, why are there so many bars you have to drive to? HUH?
I guess I would support stricter restrictions on bars in places where there is literally no option for public transportation than I would in a major city like Boston, which should have more options in place.
Has anyone looked at the numbers of drunk driving deaths since we outlawed happy hour? Seems like it would be an easy study for someone who knows what they are doing. If the ban really worked maybe we keep it, if it didn't, why should we? Of course, the ABCC and the businesses testifying in opposition to changing the happy hour laws don't seem interested in empirical evidence.
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