Monday, March 14, 2011

Leaving the Beer Garden

Some shred of good news in Canadian liquor law reform this week. In Ontario, the government has announced they are "exploring" the idea of loosening up liquor laws for special events and vacation resorts. In typical Canadian fashion, the highly contentious topic of allowing people to take a beer out of the beer garden tent has garnered a lot of debate.

Proponents say the relaxed laws will stimulate tourism by allowing Ontario resorts to sell all-inclusive vacation packages (why go to the Caribbean when you can go to Muskoka?) and making it easier for festival planners and the events industry. Opponents swear there will be anarchy in the streets with drunken fathers and abusive alcoholics running rampant.

Am I the only one that thinks this debate is given more attention than need be? We're talking about a legal substance consumed only by adults (responsible enough to vote for the people making these laws). While I'm glad to see more attention being given to liquor law reform (hopefully this will rub off in BC), I really just don't see why all of this is such a big deal. If you treat adults like adults, perhaps they will actually act like them. Where else in the world do they deal with this issue? The outdated laws that place the tight restrictions on alcohol consumption need to go.

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