Make the City Different Safe: Ban Alcohol Too

Alcohol Kills Non-Drinkers - And It's Our Duty to Protect Them

In response to the recent decision by the Santa Fe City Council to ensure that smoking will not occur in any public spaces, restaurants, bars, or other businesses despite whatever opinions those business owners have to say about it, I say - why stop there?

The argument for eliminating smoking in any indoor or outdoor public space goes that secondhand smoke is responsible for the death of non-smokers as well as smokers. It's so true the surgeon general even says so. Yet, we've known for *centuries* (yes, centuries) that alcohol is also a killer of those who do not drink. Why punish just smokers and those who profit from the sale of tobacco products? Let's go after drinkers and drinking establishments too.

The statistical evidence for the dangers of drinking alcohol are quite alarming: at least 100,000 deaths a year for those who haven't had a drop can be attributed to alcohol, including fetal alcohol syndrome, drunk driving victims, accidental and intentional homicide, not to mention the innumerable instances of assault and domestic violence that are perpetrated by drinkers on non-drinkers.

Waiting for voluntary abstinence on the part of drinkers is wishful thinking. Like smokers, expecting any drinker to act like a responsible adult and refrain from drinking isn't enough - tougher drunk driving laws isn't enough either. We MUST ACT IMMEDIATELY to make sure that Santa Fe is safe from all forms of vice that might inadventently kill an innocent, non-drinking person.

A visit to Santa Fe might not be the same with a Margarita that only contains lemonade, but if the lack of appearance of any bar or restaurant owner to the meeting to protest the smoking ban is any indication, then we should easily be able to ban the sale and consumption of alcohol within the city of Santa Fe. And if Bill Richardson is as tough on crime as he claims to be, by 2008 we might even be able to make this a state-wide law.

For those concerned that alcohol provides a means to relax after a long day, we can direct those people to the pharmaceutical industry and the many safe alternatives for relaxation in their pharmacopeia, and perhaps hand them a remote control and point them in the direction of the nearest television set. If Valium and the Weather Channel doesn't relax you, then a prescription for Seroquel will surely do the trick.

As New Mexicans, it's important for us to take the lead on the sale and consumption of this highly dangerous substance. After all, we can't expect people to make meaningful decisions about the health and safety of themselves, much less others. And maybe when we're done, we can consider the possibility of banning the use of automobiles, darts, guns, and pens with pointy tips. And saturated fat too. We can make America safe and healthy, starting right here, right now.

Que viva!

- Gregory Pleshaw
Santa Fe.