LOS ANGELES, July 8, 2019 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Koretz and the California Alcohol Policy Alliance (CAPA) will hold a press event to release the “Hight Cost of the 4am Bar Bill,“ a first of its kind cost-benefit analysis detailing the effects of changing state alcohol policy to allow later last call at bars, restaurants, and clubs.

The new analysis was done by the respected Oakland-based ARG organization, a project of the Public Health Institute. The “Hight Cost of the 4am Bar Bill“ is a response to the one-sided narrative of revenue to the state, and nightlife economic development offered by Scott Wiener, the author of SB 58. The bill, Wiener’s third attempt in three years to disrupt the protections of a statewide uniform last call, would allow 10 cities, in a so-called “pilot program,” the ability to extend hours of alcohol on sale until 4 a.m.

The “High Cost of the 4am Bar Bill,“ disturbingly documents the worst concerns of Alcohol Justice and CAPA that public health and safety would be severely compromised if SB 58 becomes law. The change in policy will not benefit the community, but does benefit private and corporate interests at great public expense. The community is well-justified in opposing the bill.

What:   Press Event / Cost Benefit Analysis Release 
When:  Tuesday July 9, 2019, 9:00 -10:00 a.m.
Where: 200 N. Spring St. Los Angeles, CA 90012 (Spring Street – Forecourt),
Who: Invited

• LA City Councilmember Paul Koretz
• LA City Councilmember Nury Martinez
• LA City Councilmember Marqueece Harris Dawson
• LA City Councilmember Greg Smith
• Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)
• Asian American Drug Abuse Prevention Program (ADAPP, Inc.)
• Cambodian Association of America (CAA)
• Los Angeles Drug and Alcohol Policy Alliance (LADAPA)
• Pueblo y Salud
• California Alcohol Policy Alliance
• Alcohol Justice

Why:   SB 58 would allow closing times for on-sale retailers to be extended from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. as part of a “pilot program” conducted by the ABC. The pilot program may be conducted in ten cities: San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Long Beach, Cathedral City, Coachella, Palm Springs and Fresno.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), California already suffers more annual alcohol-related harm than any other state: over 10,500 alcohol-related deaths, $35 billion in total costs, $14.5 billion in state costs.

Alcohol Justice and the California Alcohol Policy Alliance have taken a strong OPPOSE position on SB 58, a poorly conceived and inadequately funded pilot project. They respectfully ask that this dangerous nightlife experiment be stopped. California taxpayers do not need to pay for additional public health and safety harms in order to profit the nightlife industry.

SB 58 Quick Facts

• Strips away uniform protections of 2 a.m. last call
• Costs the state at least $3-4 million per year to administer
• Costs the state, ten pilot project cities, and cities and towns in “Splash Zones,” tens of millions more to mitigate the harms
• Disregards 40 years of peer-reviewed, public health research on the dangers of extending last call
• Ignores $34 billion in current, annual, alcohol-related harm in California
• Subsidizes and rewards late-night alcohol-sellers at public expense

CAPA Member Organizations

• Alcohol Justice
• Alcohol-Narcotics Education Foundation of California
• ADAPP, Inc.
• ADAPT San Ramon Valley
• Bay Area Community Resources
• Behavioral Health Services, Inc.
• CA Council on Alcohol Problems
• CASA for Safe & Healthy Neighborhoods
• Center for Human Development
• Center for Open Recovery
• DogPAC of San Francisco
• Dolores Huerta Foundation
• Eden Youth & Family Center
• Institute for Public Strategies
• FASD Network of Southern CA
• FreeMUNI – SF
• Friday Night Live Partnership
• Koreatown Youth & Community Center
• Laytonville Healthy Start
• L.A. County Friday Night Live
• L.A. Drug & Alcohol Policy Alliance
• L.A. County Office of Education
• Lutheran Office of Public Policy – CA
• MFI Recovery Center
• Mountain Communities Family Resource Center
• National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse
• National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence – Orange County
• 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
• SAY San Diego
• Saving Lives Drug & Alcohol Coalition
• South Orange County Coalition
• Tarzana Treatment Centers, Inc.
• The Wall Las Memorias Project
• UCEPP Social Model Recovery Systems
• Women Against Gun Violence
• Youth For Justice

The “High Cost of the 4am Bar Bill,” will be available at the press event and as a downloadable PDF file at 10 a.m. on Tuesday July 9, 2019 at AlcoholJustice.org

The public is encouraged to TAKE ACTION to #STOP4amBarBill by texting JUSTICE to 313131

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SOURCE Alcohol Justice