Following several weeks of reviewing SB136, discussing the bill with
coalition members and others, attending legislative hearings and a lot
of reading, here is the latest information we have on SB 136.
SB 136 is a bill that will increase the
access and availability of alcohol in Louisiana, particularly to
underage drinkers. SB 136 will be debated and voted on for final
passage on the House floor on Monday June 22, 2009. The bill if
passed will allow restaurants to sell alcohol under conditions
normally restricted to bars. For example, under SB 136 anyone with a
restaurant permit to sell alcohol could close the kitchen but remain
open for the primary purpose to sell alcohol. This will allow the
establishment to operate as what most would consider to be a bar.
However, those with a restaurant permit to sell alcohol will not be
held to the same standards that bars are required to follow.
Proponents of SB136 suggests that it's only purpose is to bring “clarity” to existing law. For the purpose of regulating alcohol sales present law defines a “restaurant establishment” as an establishment which:
(a) operates a place of business whose purpose and primary function is to take orders for and serve food and food items...
(b) Which serves alcoholic beverages in conjunction with meals.
Present law is very clear about when alcohol may be served. What is described in present law is what most people think of when considering when a restaurant should sell alcohol. This is how present law defines alcohol sales permits for restaurants as compared to alcohol sales permits for bars. SB136 strikes this language from Section C which defines a restaurant for the purpose of obtaining an alcohol permit.
SB 136 amends sections of Louisiana law that pertain to the sale and regulation of alcohol. Yet it strips all references in this section that refers to when alcohol can be sold. This should concern everyone. The legislature can effect public health outcomes of Louisiana citizens. SB 136 if passed will have a negative impact on public health outcomes, particularly for Louisiana youth.
Research conducted over the last three decades demonstrates a connection between alcohol availability and public health outcomes. Within a given population, public health problems will increase as availability increases (through lower prices or increased physical access), and will decrease as availability decreases. Youth are particularly sensitive to these alcohol availability variables. The impact of availability is particularly noteworthy in addressing alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes. Research suggests that 40 percent or more of drinking driving incidents begin in licensed establishments (O’Donnell, 1985; Anglin, 1997; Gallup, 2000). Limiting the number of retail licenses and restricting serving practices that encourage patron intoxication offer important new strategies for reducing death and injury on the Nation’s highways. (The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)
Let's not forget why alcohol is a controlled substance regulated by the very same laws SB 136 attempts to weaken.
Alcohol is the most widely used substance of abuse among America’s youth. A higher percentage of young people between the ages of 12 and 20 use alcohol than use tobacco or illicit drugs. The physical consequences of underage alcohol use range from medical problems to death by alcohol poisoning, and alcohol plays a significant role in risky sexual behavior, physical and sexual assaults, various types of injuries, and suicide. Underage drinking also creates secondhand effects for others, drinkers and nondrinkers alike, including car crashes from drunk driving, that put every child at risk. Underage alcohol consumption is a major societal problem with enormous health and safety consequences and will demand the Nation’s attention and committed efforts to solve. Adolescent alcohol use is not an acceptable rite of passage but a serious threat to adolescent development and health, as the statistics related to adolescent impairment, injury, and death attest. (The Surgeon General of the United States, 2007)
