One of the hot topics in San Diego (at least at the beach according to the media) is the proposed alcohol ban at the beaches. Proponents say that it will cut down on rowdiness and make the beach more family oriented. At first I thought it was a good idea (I don’t drink as I don’t like the taste of alcohol), so it wouldn’t negatively affect me. However, after thinking about it for a bit on my run this morning at the beach, it seems like the wrong thing to do. If the city wanted to clean up the beaches, it should enforce the laws already on the books, such as public intoxication, disorderly conduct, alcohol along the seawall, etc. There seem to be plenty of laws that would already help, but they’re a little harder to spot. Alcohol is easy to spot…look for case of beer in someone’s hand.
Laws just don’t seem to be enforced at the beach such as littering (smoking and then flicking ashes is littering), dogs off leash, dogs on leash during hours they shouldn’t be there, failure of cars to yield to pedestrians (not right at the beach, but near the beach), etc. Just what we need, another law that won’t be enforced.