On one of the local forums, the subject of drinking on the beach came (yet again!) Basically the people stated it was was OK to drink on the beach if you do it quietly in a paper or plastic cup. Of course there were complaints about San Diego over-reacting to the few 5% who get drunk and ruin things for everybody. In fact here was one comment… In the meantime the vast majority of responsible people can no longer enjoy a (plastic) glass of wine as we did for decades. This is not progress, it is another step towards authoritarian zero-tolerance anti-civil liberties government, as we line up in silence.’
But isn’t that aways the case? How many laws do we have due to the irresponsible 5%? Laws are made only because the ‘minority’ abuse good behavior. Then you have to question, what is good behavior? Good behavior varies from person to person… which is why we have laws.
The the very sad thing about the below picture: This was after the salvagers are picking all day Saturday. There are 4-5 regulars that troll the boardwalk trashcans. This is in .5 miles of South Mission Beach, which is NOT crowded. I also left piles of ‘recyclables on the beach as well. Could not carry and know the pickers will be out all day on Sunday.
One of the comments on the forum was: ‘As someone… who opposed the booze ban…. The City passed this law to address about 5% of the beach-goer population. The other 95% of people who enjoyed a beer or wine on the beach were responsible and posed no problem. But the City thought that the answer to the 5% was to enact a knee-jerk blanket law to partially “solve” the problem, in essence punishing the 95%. There were laws on the books to deal with public intoxication, but that would have required an effort, so like most bureaucracies they over-reached. So here we are today and there is still a problem and the City is not even addressing that – enforcing the public intoxication laws.’
As much as I hate not watching the sunset with a good bottle of wine, there are many, many reasons why drinking at the beach should not be allowed and abusers should be cited. (Sorry, people)
12 Reasons Drinking Liquor Should Not Be Allowed On Beaches
1.) There is a direct correlation between beach trash and liquor. The only people who love liquor bottles on the beach are the metal detector guys. Party On.. . it means money and treasure to them. Money, wallets, rings and what not…. They love those drinkers.
2.) There is a direct correlation between drinking liquor and illegal fires. Illegal fires are dangerous, many are not put out completely. The fires and their coals continue to burn all day even if buried in sand. People bring wood with rusty nails in them and just leave them behind. Add in to the fact they just throw their trash around, there is broken glass in the fire. 98% of the illegal fires are surrounded by liquor containers. Wood bonfires outside of fire rings were banned in California in 2016.
3.) Drinking and driving: do not know when one of those drinking on the beach are going to drive. Just within 1 block of my house in one year: One person was killed by a drunk driver and there were 2 ‘Car Swipes’ by a drunk driver.
- 2016: 10,497 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for 28% of all traffic-related deaths in the United States
- 2016, more than 1 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.3 That’s one percent of the 111 million self-reported episodes of alcohol-impaired driving among U.S. adults each year
4.) There is a direct correlation between Marijuana use and drinking.. more driving impairment. I find lots of pot containers… usually around liquor and trash.
- 13% of nighttime, weekend drivers have marijuana in their system.
- Center of Disease Control)Marijuana users were about 25% more likely to be involved in a crash than drivers with no evidence of marijuana use, however other factors–such as age and gender–may account for the increased crash risk among marijuana users.
5.) I have NEVER seen a broken glass coke bottle, but everyday, one sees 2-5 broken beer bottles on the beach, on the boardwalk, in the parking lots. 
6.) When one person is seen drinking, others follow. No longer is it 5%, it is now 10-20% drinking on the beach. Beach drinkers are sending messages to the youth, it is OK to break the law. It does not matter what the law is… just break it. Any law.. others are doing it, so can it.. great message to send.
7.) It is against the law at most California beaches. It is also against the law in Hawaii and Washington. Oregon allows drinking on the beach, but there is a bill trying to ban drinking on the beach. Texas and Florida have some beaches that allow drinking. It is not just California that has this law.
8.) It cost Taxpayer Dollars. Somebody has to clean up the mess and it comes directly out of taxpayer pockets. Every minute a city worker is sweeping broken glass is one less minute that bathrooms are being cleaned. Is this what we really want to spend our taxpayer dollars on?
9.) The cans and bottles are not recycled. Those 250 bottles picked up on Sunday which is about one half of what is in the trash, just go into landfills. Granted some of them are water and soda, but I can almost guarantee you that a few people on the beach are not going to go through cases of water.
10.) Hard Liquor, wine and now beer all comes in glass. There is no doubt in my mind that glass bottles and containers are growing on the beach and I attribute that to the growth of craft beers. Beer drinkers think the freshest beer comes in glass bottles. If you go to any of the local liquor stores.. most of the beer is in glass bottles. Ergo… the growth of glass on the beach.
11.) Plastic Pollution: Some of the hard liquor is coming in plastic bottles and there it goes.. out to see along with the other 8 Million Tons of plastic in our ocean, being eaten by marine animals.
12.) Lastly, why can’t you just enjoy one of the most glorious-life-giving things in nature, the ocean without liquor? Believe me, I get it.. What happened to the day, you went to the beach and just enjoyed the beach? No mood enhancers, no electronic devices, no play toys.. what happened to just ‘Let It Be’?
Saturday and Sunday were tough clean up days. I hated to leave behind messes and was loathe to put it in trash cans. Did not do a great job, did not get all my turf cleaned up before people started showing up on the beach. Too many piles on the beach.. too little time… too little strength.
All I kept thinking of when cleaning up illegal fires, a multitude of bottles and cans.. was this last line in the forum… which is why we have this problem.
… ‘take our wine or drink in a paper cup to watch our beautiful sunsets.’
Until i had read your entire post, i would have been one of the people thinking..why can’t we all behave? and if we want a nice glass of wine on the beach at sunset, and we clean up after ourselves, why not? But your post has really changed my mind.. what i am reminded of is the quote that we cannot have a democracy unless we all agree to obey the laws..and this is the problem now..because most people feel they can do exactly what they want to, without regard for the law, for other people, or the environment, we have this horrific mess! I admire you for all that you are trying to do..i wonder why they do not have a small deposit on all glass bottles and cans. Would that help?
In California there is a deposit on some glass, wine and liquor bottles are exempted…. strong lobbying. Most clear plastic has a CRV code. Interesting when you look at bottles to see if there is a refund or not. The whole recycling business has really changed. Thank you for your comment, I used to love going to beach at sunset with a glass of wine.. but once you start picking up after others, you realize that just because you do not make a mess…. Plus I believe in leadership by example.. or at least I try!