Illustration by Arnie Bermudez

Drink up!

A push to liberalize Arizona's overly strict 1 a.m. last call for alcohol is brewing up in Phoenix.

Yup, finally something out of the typically dim-witted Arizona state Legislature worth celebrating with a nice stiff drink.

For those who aren't avid club hoppers, current law requires bars in the state to stop serving at 1 a.m. and kick all their customers out on the street by 1:15 a.m.

As you can imagine, not only is this policy annoying, authoritative and bad for business, but it encourages binge drinking and spawns disruptive late-night house parties.

Rep. Michele Reagan, a Scottsdale Republican, calls the current last call "goofy." She's right.

Get this: Of the 50 largest cities in the United States, there are only four that have a 1 a.m. last call, and three of them (Tucson, Phoenix and Mesa) are in Arizona. The only other city with such silly regulations is Omaha, a place we should be fearful of landing in the same category with.

For goodness sake, even Salt Lake City, the Mormon capital of the world, has a last call later than ours.

Lawmakers are riding on the old "it's good for business" gimmick. And yes, pushing back the last call will help business. No one will argue that. Still, there's a bigger issue here: trusting Arizonans to make there own choices.

Daniel Scarpinato Columnist

This isn't California, Washington or New York, states with political climates that encourage socialistic government control in as many avenues of one's life as possible.

Extending the last call is completely within the founding philosophy of Arizona, a state built on the libertarian frontierism that inspired the great Senator Barry Goldwater.

The people of this state should be granted the freedom to make their own decisions about drinking and tell the behavioral standard police to take a hike.

Even philosophical jargon aside, the bill will make Arizona, and for our purposes Tucson, a more enjoyable, cosmopolitan place to live.

Despite what some in this state and particularly on this campus seem to think, there is nothing wrong with knocking back a few and having a good time.

Sure, many people abuse alcohol and they should be held accountable and take responsibility for their actions, but painting drinking as a devious act only glamorizes its image.

If you are philosophically opposed to drinking for religious, health or other reasons, that's fine. But you have no right forcing your views on everyone else through state law.

In fact, it's disturbing and embarrassing that in the year 2004, in one of the fastest growing states in the nation, many still support imposing community standard regulations.

It's no surprise that the bill is already meeting opposition from way-too-powerful special interests. Mothers Against Drunk Driving opposes it because they fear there'll be more drunk drivers on the road. But let's get real, the 1 a.m. cutoff doesn't stop drunk driving; if anything, it forces people onto the road earlier and encourages binge drinking.

No doubt the religious right won't be far behind MADD, preaching about the negative effects drinking brings to our community and trying to put a stop to the bill before it takes hold.

If they do stop it, Arizona United has its own plan, the Last Call Act of 2004. That plan would push the last call to 3 a.m., should it make it on a November ballot and be passed by voters.

In reality, neither plan goes far enough. The market should demand how late alcohol is served. If a bar owner wants to stay open 24/7 and can find the business to support doing so, then more power to him.

But the state of Arizona has no right telling a bar when to close or an individual when to put down his or her beer and head home.

Nevertheless, with bipartisan support, this bill is feasible and a step in the right direction. The supposed pro-business, small-government Republican majority up in the capital should vote in favor of the change or risk looking like a bunch of out-of-touch, up-tight hypocrites.

In the meantime, Reagan should be applauded. Bar owners and hotel executives should rally around this bill. And UA students should make sure to pick late afternoon classes next year.

Daniel Scarpinato is a journalism and political science senior. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.