Mayor Bloomberg Adds Alcohol to the Vices He'd Like to Curb

Reuters
Dino Grandoni 1,749 Views Jan 11, 2012

Sugar? Check. Tobacco? Check. Trans-fats? Check. Hmm, what other substantive vice can New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's fun police crack down on? Oh, alcohol! "Now Bloomberg — known for sipping fine wine and downing a cold beer from time to time — wants to crack down on alcohol sales to curb excessive drinking, according to a provocative planning document," reports the New York Post. "Provocative" is right! For once we're agreeing with the Post's word choices about the mayor's latest health pogrom initiative. Now obviously, this isn't a full-fledged Prohibition-style crack down on alcohol, since there's a 21st Amendment and all. According to the document, Bloomberg does want to “reduc[e] alcohol retail outlet (e.g. bar, corner store) density and illegal alcohol," though the city would not comment on how exactly it'd do so when asked by the Post. The awful potential maiming of New York's bar scene aside, the other proposal highlighted in the Post's report -- curbing alcohol ads in the mass transit system -- is something we can support. Who wants to be reminded they can't drink when they're going to work? In any case, we'd like to remind Mayor Bloomberg that we don't have a problem and we can stop drinking at any time. Why does he have to keep asking about it?

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