DID SALT LAKE CITY BECOME “ALL GROWED UP” AND WE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW IT? WHY THE 1 AM LAST CALL AND 2 AM CLOSING TIME LAW IS KILLING PEOPLE. HOW UTAH DUI LAWS ARENT STRICT ENOUGH.
I am a busy downtown SLC bartender and one who feels beverages containing alcohol are too good of a thing to abuse. Night after night I am reminded why some parts of local alcohol beverage management law has many unintended and tragic consequences.
DID SALT LAKE CITY BECOME “ALL GROWED UP” AND WE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW IT?
As one of America’s most beautiful and culturally diverse states, Utah’s economy is benefited substantially by a reputation of unique and inspiring experiences to be had here, both by residents and tourists. Unfortunately, part of Utah beverage control law is robbing the state of its inspiring reputation.
Utah beverage control law requires all bartenders to put a device on bottles we use to regulate the amounts poured into each beverage. As a bartender who has made tens of thousands of drinks in more than one area, I am familiar with different cultures and the popular beverages ordered. Whether it’s a tall Mai Tai flavored with just enough almond syrup and plenty of umbrellas and fruit sticking out served on the beaches of Kauai, a seriously bruised dirty vodka martini with blue cheese olives on the ski slopes of Deer Valley, an ice cold stein and quick shot at Poplar Street Pub or a bright glowing electric blue beverage at Sandbar in downtown Salt Lake City, all contain different amounts of product. It is my opinion that people don’t care if a recipe calls for ½ an ounce or 2 ½ ounces of product in their beverage. What is more important is that they want it to remind them that they are a “big kid” now, with more responsibilities and more benefits.
These "big kids" in Salt Lake City are residents and visitors. Some visitors are here on vacation, some are here for a work related convention (Salt Lake City has THOUSANDS of visitors every month from substantial business conventions carrying the envy of other states with them). As a person directly responsible for accommodating the experience of these "big kids", a bartender in the state of Utah wears Utah's reputation like a magic cloak. Unfortunately, the presence of this magical cloak is lost because the metering equipment bartenders are forced to use here is so horrifically embarrassing. The visiting "big kids" make fun of Utah bartenders for having to play with it. Being caught peeing my pants would be less embarrassing. For me, it's like I have the coolest bike in the neighborhood but there are still training wheels on it because my dad is too busy to take them off for me. Watching and listening to visitors make fun of the metering equipment and take pictures of it and talk about other places, places where they want to be instead, places where dads have the time to take the training wheels off the bikes, makes me want to run away with my magic cloak and hide in the janitors closet. Too many people both past and present have put so much work into making Utah’s reputation be what it is, it’s a shame to see something so irrelevant completely destroy it.
LAST CALL KILLS
On any given night there are anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand people in beautiful Salt Lake City's downtown bars, nightclubs, etc… enjoying a “responsibly irresponsible” experience. Although well intended for the State, in downtown Salt Lake City Last Call creates an environment with desperately undesirable consequences.
When it comes to crafting beverages for these thousands of people, bartenders have regimented dispensing and serving law we must adhere to. A part of this law is that Last Call is at 1 am. This means beverages containing alcohol are not served after 1 am. This law is strictly obeyed because there are severe consequences for the bartender and the establishment for non observance.
Last Call facilitates behavior in some people that results in them drinking more beverages faster. This type of behavior creates a spike in their blood alcohol level that could be considered a factor in tragic events. Without a compulsory Last Call, these same people may have been content to be served fewer "big kid" drinks over a longer period of time. The spike in their blood alcohol level would have never occurred and a safer environment would have been created. Bar Staff would also have more of an opportunity to monitor the environment closely and offer someone an alternative when that person was beginning to show signs of a potentially unmanageable blood alcohol level. “Big kids” in Utah and all over the country know if they have an unmanageable blood alcohol level in an establishment they are no longer welcome there.
Things are further complicated by the fact that in addition to Last Call, bars must also be vacant of patrons at 2 am. This means everyone inside, is now prohibited from being there. By law, staff are now compelled to force these people out onto the streets. Some of these people have manageable blood alcohol levels and some do not. In a small rural town with a comparatively low number of people, this may have no unintended effects. However, in a heavily populated area like downtown Salt Lake City, this activity may facilitate tragic effects. Forcing everyone out at the same time creates a mass, simultaneous exodus. This puts an impossible, crippling and “all at once” burden on the city’s taxi cab and law enforcement systems.
Taxi's cannot meet the explosive, all at once demand suddenly thrown at them. As hard as they try to answer every call, the overwhelming surge is just too much. I have seen people call for a taxi, be promised a ride right away and then wait 40 minutes before they finally disappear into the night without one. I have personally dialed for a taxi on behalf of a customer several times only to be met with a busy signal or an endless ring that can never be answered. There are just too many calls going in. Because of Last Call, not everyone who needs a taxi can get one.
Forcing thousands of people onto the streets of downtown Salt Lake City at the same time also creates an environment that is more conducive to illegal behavior such as fighting, vandalism and violence. Sometimes this violence results in tragedy, sometimes it does not, but in most instances, it results in several hours of attention from multiple police units. This prevents these police units from policing for statistically more tragic incidents like people driving with unmanageable blood alcohol levels.
The reason this is such a big problem is because different establishments are busier on different nights, depending on what is happening in the community. A game night for a local football, soccer, basketball, baseball or hockey team, any of numerous holidays or other special occasions are just a few daily occurrences that might make establishments busier. Having a compulsory Last Call for everyone is like clamping the lid on an already full pot of homemade strawberry jam before it even starts to boil. At a certain moment, that jam will greatly expand, the pressure will be too great and the pot and strawberry jam will explode all over your kitchen. If the State were to allow Salt Lake City (or other areas with population exceptions, like Park City during ski season) to eliminate Last Call (even for a trial period), this would eliminate the explosive, all at once consequences suffered by Salt Lake City and whatever random communities those consequences happen to splatter onto.
Like is done in other heavily populated areas, management of establishments will be allowed to more effectively manage the evening according to that specific night and would be able to offer Last Call when it is appropriate and then close an hour or so later. Some people say that this would just allow “drunks” to sit in a bar and drink all night. However, remember that having an unmanageable blood alcohol level is not allowed in bars and that people would not be allowed to simply "sit in a bar and drink all night getting drunker and drunker". Just as is done now, people are offered an alternative non-alcoholic beverage at the first sign of an unmanageable blood alcohol level.
Eliminating Last Call will allow people to trickle home at their own pace. This will gently and effectively release the pressure in the appropriate areas. This will mean a greater opportunity for the city’s systems to be effective. It will give more people the opportunity to get home safely and create a safer environment for my family and yours.
WHY DUI LAWS ARENT STRICT ENOUGH
If someone with an unmanageable blood alcohol level refuses the potentially catastrophic consequences of their actions and risks driving, the penalties upon getting caught should be no less than catastrophic for them. A person driving with an unmanageable blood alcohol level is the same as firing an armed missile into the community. The missile may land in a field of grass or it may explode into a vehicle carrying a Mother, a Father and 5 children. Either way the action should be punished the same way regardless of the result. Utah’s laws managing the consequences of driving with an unmanageable blood alcohol level can be more severe. A person who is guilty of this should be held for at least 72 hours upon arrest. This person should serve 15 weekday nights and 6 full weekends of jail time. This person should pay a fine of no less than 2 months wages or $10,000, whatever is greater. This person should serve at least 100 hours of community service. As a reminder of the severity of this law, it should be reviewed every year in every school from 7th grade and up, be demonstrated regularly in the media and posted within 10 feet of any entrance to any establishment offering a "responsibly irresponsible" experience.
Now, what is an "unmanageable blood alcohol level" for everybody? For some people it seems to be what happens to them just from the smells of filling their gas tank. For others I wonder if they really do have the fabled "hollow leg". Does Utah’s legal limit need to be changed? Should it be lower? Should it be higher? I think it’d be great if anyone who wanted to could go to the Driver License Division and take a drunken competency test and be certified at what was legal for them and what wasn't. I know I would have a family member at each extreme end of the scale. How cool would that be though? You’re out one night, you get behind the wheel, you know you can’t drive and your buddy says, “I got you! I’m certified at .2!” He takes over and you all get home safely (if you're math impaired .2 is 2 and 1/2 times the current legal limit). Personally, I can do a lot at .08 and more, but I recognize that’s the point in Utah where I get the opportunity to pray to one of the States metal gods in a jail cell full of new friends I didn't choose instead of praying to the porcelain god in the comfort of my own home -and it would suck if after writing this blog I got a DUI, so for now, I manage.
Whether you saw it happen or not, Salt Lake City is "all growed up" as a city and is open for business after 10 pm. Let’s manage this fortunate aspect of the local economy more proactively. Lets create a safer environment for my family and yours. Let’s share the message that “Yes!”, whether you live in Utah or are visiting, it’s great to be a “big kid” and have a “responsibly irresponsible” experience, but if you are irresponsible, the punishment will be severe.
With the utmost respect and thank you to Utah law makers and the Utah Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control both past and present who are straddled with the task of effective alcohol management in such a beautiful and culturally diverse state, I respectfully ask you to thoughtfully consider the observations I have presented you with. Please schedule a legislative review of these parts of Utah liquor management law as soon as possible.
lastcallkills@gmail.com
(801) 433-7086
