Cut Street Drunks Off At The Source

All around the nation, cities are making their central neighborhoods livable again by replacing ‘60s permissiveness with ‘90s “tough love.” From New York to California, violent crime rates have plunged as cities have stopped tolerating public inebriation, panhandling and other minor but damaging behaviors that make troublemakers feel at home and law-abiding people feel unsafe.

On Wednesday, the Washington state Liquor Control Board holds a hearing in Spokane on a proposed rule change that would create a useful new tool for neighborhoods working to defeat the forces of decay. The hearing is at 2:30 p.m., at Spokane Community College, Building 6, Sasquatch Room.

The proposal clarifies the state’s right to clamp down on merchants who fuel winos with cheap, high-octane booze. A few alcohol distributors, possibly sensing a minor threat to revenues, liken this to Prohibition.

Hogwash. It is a privilege, not a right, to sell alcoholic beverages. Businesses with liquor licenses have a responsibility to obey the law, which prohibits sales to drunks and is designed to prevent liquor licenses from damaging the surrounding community.

The real issue is whether state authorities will continue to wink at liquor licensees who sell cheap fortified wine in neighborhoods frequented by panhandling street drunks. These merchants, like the drunks they enable, are a community detriment. They violate the law every time a known drunk staggers into the store and buys a jug of rocket fuel with quarters and dollar bills from a few hours’ worth of panhandling.

The state’s proposal results from suggestions by communities that have been working to reduce downtown drunkenness, including Spokane.

The best tactic is a voluntary neighborhood agreement to stop stocking cheap fortified wine in areas with a wino problem. But if a merchant declines to be a good neighbor, other neighbors need a backup remedy, to ensure their well-being.

Under the state’s proposal, if voluntary efforts fail, irresponsible merchants can be ordered to limit their merchandise and can be stripped of their license if problems continue.

This proposal could benefit vulnerable fringe neighborhoods as well as city centers, which tend to be more organized. It creates a process for identifying problem areas and imposing appropriate restrictions.

True, restrictions are not a complete solution. Compassionate cities also provide a safe place for drunks to sleep it off, as well as treatment for chronic alcoholics who want treatment. But, communities that enable chronic drunkeness invite the decay of their central neighborhoods and that, in the long run, hurts everyone.