The B.C. government deserves credit for modernizing the province’s liquor laws — many of the regulations were arcane, unnecessarily complex and counterproductive — but the latest move goes too far.
As of Jan. 23, businesses not normally associated with the serving and selling of alcohol will be allowed to apply for a liquor licence so they can serve drinks to customers and diversity their trade. That means you would be able to have a glass of wine while being fitted for a new wardrobe, or perhaps a glass of beer while waiting for a haircut.
So what’s wrong with having a drink to make shopping for new clothes a little more relaxing? On the surface, not much. But suppose your shopping trip includes an appointment at the hair salon, a massage session and a visit to the dealership to eye that car you’ve been wanting. You might need that new car if you try to drive home impaired.
The province says businesses that apply for licensing will have to undergo the same processes as other establishments, including a requirement that all staff serving liquor have the province’s Serving-It-Right designation.
The person who fits you for a suit has the training and the experience to ensure the new clothing is a good fit. Government designation notwithstanding, the clothing store salesperson’s priority is selling clothes. Judging a person’s capacity for alcohol might not be a priority.
No one wants a return to those “Ladies & Escorts” days when drinking establishments had two gender-specific entrances, when a half-wall separated unaccompanied men from the escorted women, when socializing while drinking was severely discouraged.
That tended to make drinking, not personal interaction, the focus, which was not conducive to the responsible consumption of alcohol.
No one wants to go back to the time when liquor-store customers could not browse among the merchandise, but had to give their orders to clerks attired in tartan jackets, who would disappear among the back shelves to fill the orders. The customer would leave with his or her purchase concealed in a plain paper bag as if something furtive and dirty had just taken place.
But there’s no shortage now of places to buy liquor, no lack of places where you can get a drink. Sure, most customers of businesses that will be offering drinks will not be a problem, but is increasing outlets for alcohol wise?
It could put pressure on business owners not so inclined, but who might feel they need to keep up with the competition. And will the province provide the necessary resources to the liquor-licensing branch for adequate enforcement?
As proponents for changing marijuana laws frequently — and accurately — point out, we sometimes overlook how harmful alcohol is. Statistics consistently show that the economic effect of alcohol — medical costs, law enforcement, lost productivity and so forth — is nearly twice as much as the toll from all illicit drugs combined.
In 2012, according to a report by Dr. Gregory Taylor, chief public health officer of Canada, “at least 3.1 million Canadians drank enough to be at risk for immediate injury and harm with at least 4.4 million at risk for chronic health effects, such as liver cirrhosis and various forms of cancer.”
That doesn’t mean we’ll commonly see inebriated people staggering from one retail business to the other, nor would we want to saddle such businesses with the blame for alcohol-related damage, but alcohol is not a harmless substance and still needs to be regulated.
Yes, draconian and misguided liquor policies of the past needed to be modernized, but expanding the serving of alcohol in retail businesses swings the pendulum too far.
