WHY WE SUPPORT ALCOHOL-FREE BEACHES

The San Diego County Policy Panel on Youth Access to Alcohol, the San Diego Police Officers' Association, MADD, and other community-based coalitions and collaboratives support San Diego citizens in their public policy efforts to create alcohol-free beaches. The following points outline the reason for our support:

Public Health & Safety Issue - Research and first-hand experience and evidence from beach residents demonstrate that alcohol consumption on beaches is, indeed, a public health and safety issue. Research shows that alcohol consumption is closely linked with violence. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, drinking by the victim, assailant, or both is involved in over half of all violent assaults. One study of emergency rooms found that patients with violence-related injuries were at least twice as likely to have been drinking than patients with injuries from other causes.

Alcohol-related problems in the beach areas take an excessive toll on our already over-burdened peace officers. Mission and Pacific Beach have a violent crime rate that is THREE times that of the entire city and almost 20% of all of San Diego's alcohol-related arrests. Pacific Beach had the highest number of drunk driving arrests of any community in the city, and Mission Beach leads the area in underage drinking arrests.

Impact on Community - Beach residents have complained of public urination, vandalism, noise, and other alcohol-related problems. All but two cities in Southern California (Del Mar and Solana Beach) have banned alcohol on their beaches. Oceanside, Carlsbad, Imperial Beach, and La Jolla have banned alcohol consumption on public beaches with positive results. Law enforcement officials report a reduction in alcohol-related problems, as well as more diversity in the composition of beach crowds. This majority exists because local governments recognized the need to prohibit alcohol from their beaches to protect the health and safety of their constituents and reduce the resources necessary to maintain civil order.

Underage Drinking - Research demonstrates what we already know - teen parties constitute one of the highest-risk settings for youth alcohol problems. Some consequences associated with youth alcohol problems are unwanted pregnancy, sexual assault, suicide, homicide, scholastic failure, and HIV and other STD transmission. Beaches provide appealing settings for underage drinking. The beach atmosphere is a major contributor to the drinking culture of San Diego. Allowing alcohol consumption on our beaches encourages a dangerous social norm of complacency towards underage and binge drinking. To make matters worse, police officers often cannot be certain which drinkers are and are not 21 and over. Research illustrates that banning alcohol from beaches is an effective way to reduce alcohol-related problems, especially among youth. The federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention recommends as a best practice the prohibition of alcohol consumption in public locations including beaches.

Social and Economic Cost - Underage drinking costs the state of California 6.5 billion dollars per year. For every $1.00 we collect in alcohol taxes, we spend $7.20 trying to address alcohol-related problems. In the year 2000, the grand total of the cost of one police officer per year was $147, 967.00. The presence of 50-60 law enforcement officers is often required to patrol a 1 ½ mile stretch of sand just to maintain a basic level of safety. Less police staffing is the typical result of restricting alcohol consumption to licensed establishments.

To conclude, making our local beaches alcohol-free is an example of good public policy based on a public health and safety necessity. Experience shows that once bans are in place, drunk and disorderly behavior is greatly diminished, and the beach becomes a serene and safe place where families and others can enjoy the ocean environment.

Please join law enforcement officials, community groups, and San Diego residents in making our beaches safer and healthier places
to live in and visit for all!