Admit it: who doesn’t enjoy a cold (hard) drink or two down by the beach during the sizzling summer months? Whether you do or you don’t, you’re likely aware that drinking alcohol in public is an illegal activity, but most of you quaff respectably, clean up after yourselves, and appreciate it when the police mostly look the other way. Would it be nice not to have to hide your glass of wine when Vancouver’s Finest stroll by? Sure. Soon, you might not have to. It could finally be legal to have cocktails in the park. But is that actually a good thing, or does it open up the beer taps for widespread asshattery?
Last week it was announced that the BC government sought input from the City of Vancouver and other municipalities on a little-known clause in BC’s liquor laws that would legally allow for open consumption of alcohol in designated public places. But as I mentioned, many otherwise law-abiding citizens already consume alcohol in public places, and have done so for a long time.
Call it the Mexico Effect, but at the beaches, it’s simply become part of our culture. From the couple strolling down to English Bay with a picnic basket and a bottle of Blasted Church to enjoy at sunset, to contraband booze sold by unlicensed vendors on Wreck Beach, to the hipster beer can bike armies that congregate at the north end of Third Beach, it’s happening. I don’t think I’m popping the cap off of any of this, am I?
Libations have long been enjoyed in our inner parks too, from dudes chillin’ on the pitch-and-putt while quaffing a few Kokanees, to the co-eds quenching a “beer me!” thirst at the end of a softball game. Again, none of this is technically legal but it shouldn’t come as a shock. As far as I know, no booze riots have broken out at the bocce ball court, and no one has drunkenly streaked Old School-style through a wedding at Queen Elizabeth Park when beer badminton went off the rails.
You know as well as I do that Vancouver’s trouble with public alcohol consumption isn’t happy hour on the beach. It’s when the city is invaded by the bridge-and-tunnel crowds on the weekends, turning Granville Street into a punch drunk party-zone cesspool; our Stanley Cup Finals into city-destroying riots; our beaches into a gong show when the fireworks blast into town. Should we continue to police the shit out of those areas? Yes. Should we legalize Granville into Bourbon Street North? No. The suburbanites have already proven time and again that they aren’t ready for such a spiked luxury.
When it comes to enjoying a bomber of double IPA at the park in the sun across the street from the craft brewery, maybe we should leave things the way they are. Just make sure you behave like a human being, don’t drink and drive, and leave your empties beside the bin. It’s the hallmark of a civilized society, which is why we should keep public drinking illegal. See you at the beach.
