Community members rally against 4:00 am bar closing

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August 22, 2017

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SAN DIEGO, Aug. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — The California Alcohol Policy Alliance is reporting that dozens of community members gathered in North Park Tuesday, to protest a proposal to allow bars and nightclubs to serve alcohol as late as 4 a.m. Senate Bill 384 would allow last call for alcohol to be pushed from 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. for restaurants and bars. It would not apply to liquor stores.

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Lisa Bridges, with Community Action, Service & Advocacy (CASA), and member of the California Alcohol Policy Alliance says, “We need to put public safety ahead of alcohol profits. Allowing alcohol to be served until 4 a.m. pushes the most dangerous time to be on the road right into the morning commute and imposes more burden on law enforcement.”

The San Diego Police Chiefs and Sheriffs Association, and the California College and University Police Chiefs Association, are among nearly one hundred organizations that oppose Senate Bill 384, including MADD and Alcohol Justice.

“The term local control is bait to lure in potential supporters,” says Brian Curry a Pacific Beach resident and past chair of the Pacific Beach Planning Group. “Instead, it leaves cities vulnerable to the same moneyed business interests: Big Alcohol and its cousin, the entertainment lobby that run roughshod over existing alcohol policies with their promises of creating jobs and tax revenue,” he said.

San Diego County is home to more than a dozen colleges and universities, where safety associated with binge drinking is already a concern. Alcohol is the leading cause of death among teenagers in California.

Judith Garcia Rojas, UCSD student, says” Extending the bar hours would only exacerbate the impact of alcohol on young people” In California, alcohol already claims more than 10,500 lives per year and leaves more than 900,000 people injured.

Those at todays rally say they are concerned for public safety. Extending bar hours raises public safety concerns, endangers public health, and pits law enforcement and communities against the well-resourced industries that stand to profit from increasing alcohol availability.

CAPA Members

Alcohol Justice
Alcohol-Narcotic Education Foundation
AADAP, Inc.
Bay Area Community Resources
Behavioral Health Services, Inc.
Community Action, Service & Advocacy/CASA
CA Council on Alcohol Problems
Center for Open Recovery
Eden Youth and Family Center
Institute for Public Strategies
FASD Network of Southern CA
FreeMUNI – SF
Friday Night Live Partnership
Koreatown Youth and Community Center
L.A. County Friday Night Live
L.A. Drug & Alcohol Policy Alliance
Lutheran Office of Public Policy – California
MFI Recovery Center
Mountain Communities Family Resource Center
Partnership for a Positive Pomona
Paso por Paso, Inc.
Project SAFER
Pueblo y Salud
Reach Out
San Marcos Prevention Coalition
San Rafael Alcohol & Drug Coalition
Santee Solutions
SF DogPAC
SAY San Diego
Saving Lives Drug & Alcohol Coalition
South Orange County Coalition
Tarzana Treatment Centers,Inc.