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Peru: Lima mayor to prohibit the sale of alcohol 24 hours a day M - F

Living in Peru
Israel J. Ruiz

Gustavo Sierra, the mayor of the Limean district of Surquillo, lauded Octavio Salazar, the head of Peru's national police for his suggestion to ban the sale of alcohol after 2 p.m.

Not only did the mayor of the district support the idea, he suggested that the sale of alcohol be banned 24 hours a day from Monday to Friday.

"Supposedly the whole world works from Monday to Friday, so why are people going to be drinking on those days," said Sierra, assuring there was a direct relation between crime and the consumption of alcohol.

Andina news agency reported that the mayor would bring the idea up at the district's next Citizen Safety Council.

In an effort to reduce crime, Sierra has proposed to implement the regulation on a trial basis.

He assured he was not against the freedom of consumption of alcoholic beverages as long as it was done moderately.

The mayor affirmed that excessive drinking always led to trouble.

Furthermore, he stated that the district's safety and citizen's peace of mind were more important than a personal desire.

"It's also a matter of culture. If a child is taught not to consume alcohol at an early age, we'll have a better society," said the mayor.

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# mericorps says :
17 July, 2008 [ 17:25 ]

While I am in favor of offering some restrictions on alchohol, history has taught us that prohabition only brings crime and unsafe practices (moonshine, traveling to other districts, drinking and driving), the Mayor and police should learn from history and devise a more effective plan to limit drinking.

# David says :
17 July, 2008 [ 17:32 ]

In a word, Insane!

# Jet says :
17 July, 2008 [ 19:55 ]

Well said Mericorps, that is the historic truth.  I think mayor Sierra needs to think this matter thru again.

# Bimbo Jet says :
18 July, 2008 [ 01:06 ]

You can say the same thing for drugs.
Legalize the crap and you will find that the gangs and crime
will dissapear.. just like it did in the 1930's after Prohibition was repealed...

the best thing you can do for the gangsters and drug dealers is to keep it illegal..

Once it is legalized and sold and taxed by the government the drug dealers will ALL GO OUT OF BUSINESS

WOW WHAT A CONCEPT
IT TAKES A REAL GENIUS TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING THAT SIMPLE
SORT OF LIKE   2+2 = 4

# Jonathan says :
18 July, 2008 [ 02:14 ]

What a complete moron, Sierra would be if this passes into a law. So the stores will be packed on saturday and sunday?  People will buy all they can to last a week.  All the sales will go to other districts also. Makes you wonder where his education comes from, maybe the same university H. Chavez went to.

# Lee says :
18 July, 2008 [ 08:30 ]

This should very seriously be reconsidered.

This quote is so full of ignorance and should be highlighted:
"Supposedly the whole world works from Monday to Friday, so why are people going to be drinking on those days"

I am fairly certain the whole world does not work the same schedule or shift. Maybe they should put into law that all businesses must stop functioning on the weekends and people MUST work M-F only.

If this goes into law for stores only, it will merely force people to stockpile their alcohol on the weekends. If this goes into law for all businesses, it is going to cause losses for many establishments who cater to the people who do go out mid-week (much less Friday evening). I would feel very bad for the businesses who really suffer as well as those people who may have have their "weekend" days in the middle of M-F.

You can also imagine the number of businesses that will refuse to really apply this law due to the fact that they do not want to lose customers. Then... if you want to try and force them to adhere to the law, you will be wasting more resources on enforcement of a flawed policy. This will do nothing but provide more tension between law enforcement and the public... and that is never good. If you want people to respect the law and government, don't create stupid restrictions like this.

Restricting the means in which people can buy alcohol is not a solution to anything. The only results are going to be negative. If they want to tackle crime or alcoholism... there are many better avenues to take. There are plenty of good and bad examples that they could research all across the globe on this subject. They should learn from others who have gone down this road and see why it does not work. Hopefully they will wake up... otherwise it is just going to be incredibly annoying and serve no purpose but to act as a divide between the public and government.

# Lee says :
18 July, 2008 [ 08:36 ]

Since they seem to be spewing so much ignorance... this one is also good to highlight:

"It's also a matter of culture. If a child is taught not to consume alcohol at an early age, we'll have a better society," said the mayor.

I guess government restriction on lifestyle is the new method of teaching. Those concepts of education and positive reinforcement for making the right choices must be incredibly flawed... so lets just take stuff away.

# Walter E, says :
19 July, 2008 [ 00:40 ]

I think that the mayor was drinking when he thought of this idea.
I am for a law that prohibits drinking alcohol on public areas like parks, beaches, outside your home, etc. and to impose heavy fines for law brakers.  In another words, hit them in the wallet and use the money to help victims of domestic violance and to educate people about the consequences of abusing alcohol.

# Jet says :
19 July, 2008 [ 00:46 ]

Sounds good Walter.  Maybe you should run for Mayor lol

# Jon says :
19 July, 2008 [ 02:45 ]

What's wrong with drinking at the beach? Who cares, as long as you don't operate a vehicle. I am for drinking more in public places. No need for the laws to be so strick, talking about freedom here.

# Walter E. says :
19 July, 2008 [ 12:23 ]

People go to the beach to swim not to see someone get drunk.  If you want to drink go to a bar. We do not need trash or broken glass where parents take their children to swim and play with the sand.

# jb says :
19 July, 2008 [ 13:03 ]

More cattle prods, night sticks and mace.  Please!!!!

# FJ883 says :
19 July, 2008 [ 15:51 ]

Jon - "I am for drinking more in public places"

Have you considered joining Alcoholics Anonymous?  They could help you a lot.

# Jon says :
20 July, 2008 [ 01:28 ]

There is no broken glass....   You pay the boy, and he brings you a beer and some nuts, when you are done he takes the bottle and brings you another one.  Maybe that is the custubres and behavior of the people you associate with??