Happy Summer Everyone!

Taking a break - we will be back in August.

Kingston Police and AGCO making the CASE for bar safety

Looking forward to enjoying a drink on your favourite licensed patio or at your favourite local bar this summer? It’s easy to distinguish those bars and restaurants that foster a safe environment through the responsible and legal sale and service of alcohol.  Unfortunately it is equally easy to spot those that break the rules and ultimately compromise not only the safety of their patrons and staff, but also the safety of those in the surrounding community.  

 

One of the actions most supported by both men and women in a recent local survey on alcohol use was that “there should be more enforcement of alcohol laws by police and liquor inspectors in bars and restaurants”.

The Kingston Police regularly work alongside the Alcohol & Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) to inspect and enforce activities in local bars.  This summer they will be doing additional targeted inspections as part of the province wide C.A.S.E. program – a Community Alcohol Safety and Enforcement initiative launched a year ago by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police and the AGCO.  The purpose of C.A.S.E. is to:

•  Focus on five key areas: (1) serving a minor, (2) intoxication, (3) permitting disorderly behaviour on premise, (4) overcrowding, and (5) after-hours service
•  Promote public safety and enjoyment of all licenced establishments
•  Heighten inspections and enforcement activities by uniformed officers
• Ensure reporting by police of enforcement and relevant information in a timely manner to the AGCO
•  Promote accountability by all license holders to operate in a legal and safe manner 

A big thank you to all bar owners and staff who serve alcohol responsibly, and to all the officers working to enforce alcohol laws in our community.  Together you are helping to create conditions where alcohol is only a part of our good times. 

Latest from the OCSA: An economic study that fails to look at alcohol costs

AP Photo

The Ontario Convenience Stores Association (OCSA) has released a study that claims expanding alcohol sales to corner stores in Ontario will be better for consumers and the government.  The Quebec-owned Mac’s convenience store chain concurs and promises 1600 new jobs for Ontario.  Given the profit motivation behind the OCSA and Mac’s, it is not surprising that they fail to examine the outcome of increased alcohol sales in the province.

Years of alcohol research demonstrates the following:

↑ alcohol availability → ↑ alcohol sales → ↑ consumption → ↑alcohol related problems and harm → ↑health, enforcement, and other costs

A quick look at British Columbia, where this exact model of combined government and private retailing of alcohol was implemented shows just how unsuccessful it has been, particularly in terms of the overall impact on health.  In a letter to the editor of the Toronto Star, researchers from the Centre for Addictions Research of BC and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health also had the following to say about the OCSA’s economic argument:

“Private stores will in fact compete with government stores and so take away sales thereby reducing both government revenue and LCBO jobs...Alcohol is not an ordinary commodity. Every step towards privatization weakens the community’s ability to limit alcohol-related harm through regulation of price and availability.”

Not only did the majority of Kingston respondents in a recent alcohol survey not want alcohol expanded to corner stores, local compliance rates for selling tobacco to minors raise concerns about how well they will be able to control alcohol sales to youth.  A recent compliance check revealed that 15% of the 150 tobacco retailers checked in KFL&A sold tobacco to a 17 year old youth shopper.