Quote:
Originally Posted by Thunderball
I don't mean to sound condescending or anything, so please don't take it as such... but how exactly did it work? Is Winnipeg free of alcohol related violence and drunken misconduct? Is there sizable reduction in violence? Have Liquor Store sales increased due to this, or stayed relatively static?
|
There's an area called the "Warehouse District" in Winnipeg; for example. Very much like the stretch we have along 9th ave and down 1st street. Same issues; 75¢ highballs until 9:00, people order up a tray of them, get smashed instead of just drunk. Then 2:00 hits and everybody goes staby-staby on each other.
Are there still stabbings there now? Of course; it's Winnipeg. But not nearly to the extent that it was before.
A big catalyst in Winnipeg was the number of bars near the rivers. People get drunk, fall into the river, and drown. After a university kid died about 8 or 9 years ago they decided enough was enough.
The big thing is there really weren't any losers in the situation. Bars sold fewer drinks but for more money; so they still made the same money. People get less drunk and go home and order pizza instead of puking on their own shoes or stabbing people.
The problem of not enacting this kind of law; and "staying out of private companies business" (which is a valid point BTW)- is that it forces all bars to do it at the same time. If left up to the bars, Coyotes would raise their prices but Ceili's wouldn't, so Coyotes would lose business to another bar.
And we see these types of safety issues in other businesses. For example, airlines. New safety standards come out, and everybody is given until X date to bring them in. That way Westjet doesn't bring them in; and have to raise ticket prices to pay for it, while Air Canada decided not to and leave their prices lower than WJ.