By The Herald Editorial Board
The request by city officials that merchants in specific areas of Everett stop selling low-cost, high-alcohol beer and wine has been met with little acceptance and little success in limiting complaints of public use of alcohol, littering and aid calls for drunkenness.
Of about 101 retailers in the Alcohol Impact Areas created by the city in May 2015, about 70 have continued to sell the products, some of which advertise their intended effect with names such as Joose, High Gravity Hurricane and Mike’s Harder Lemonade, as if regular “hard” lemonade doesn’t deliver enough of a punch.
These typically aren’t backyard barbecue beverages. Instead, their low cost and high alcohol content make them an attractive nuisance in neighborhoods that are confronting problems with alcoholism, addiction and homelessness.
The voluntary compliance by about 30 percent of stores in the impact areas has resulted in about a 10 percent decrease in alcohol-related emergency calls, city officials claim, prompting city officials to request the state Liquor and Cannabis Board make the areas mandatory and ban a list of about 20 specific products being sold in the impact areas, including the three mentioned above.
The state board allows the mandatory alcohol impact zones, and has established them in Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane and Olympia, but asks cities to see if a voluntary program will be effective. It wasn’t in the four other cities; nor has it been in Everett.
The Liquor and Cannabis Board is expected to issue its determination regarding the city’s request later this month, as The Herald’s Chris Winters reported Monday.
Judging by other cities’ experiences, the mandatory ban could be effective in Everett, too.
A report by the city of Seattle that compared 2010 figures to 2011, found that one impact area saw a 41 percent decrease in liquor violations, a 43 percent decrease in people being told to leave parks, and a 57 percent decrease in trespass offenses. The number of detox aid calls decreased 42 percent, and admissions to one sobering center decreased 9 percent.
A 2015 report by Tacoma noted a more than 50 percent decrease in complaints to police in its alcohol impact area and a 29 percent decrease in aid calls over the seven years since the area was made mandatory.
A Spokane Police Department study in 2014 of its alcohol impact area found that after its restrictions went into effect in 2012, liquor violations decreased by 83 percent in 2013-14 and detox calls declined 53 percent.
Seattle’s report noted that it’s difficult to determine the direct impact of its impact zones because of the mix of programs, including the sobering center and nearby low-barrier housing projects, that are also likely contributing, but it still concluded significant and positive effects from barring the sale of high-alcohol beverages.
Everett, like Seattle and other cities, isn’t relying exclusively on the impact zones. The city, in making its case to the state board, included information about a new work crew program intended for those cited for trespassing and similar infractions, offering two days of litter cleanup rather than a fine or jail time. It also offers a chance to connect those struggling with homelessness and with alcohol and other addictions with the resources they need.
That and other programs under the city’s Safe Streets Plan — including a low-barrier housing project— can be used together to address the city’s chronic problems with homelessness, addiction and mental illness.
Like the other cities, Olympia reported decreases in police and aid calls after the alcohol impact zones were made mandatory. But Olympia also noted that after identifying nine specific products it initially banned, it found that some stores brought in new products to sell with the same low-cost and hard kick. It requested and got approval from the state board to update and expand its list from the original nine listed beverages to more than 60.
Everett, too, will need to monitor what’s being sold to keep up with the latest harder stuff.
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