As a way of keeping their liquor licenses, two local Georgetown bars told the Advisory Neighborhood Commission on Tuesday that they would forgo all-you-can-drink nights as well as other promotional drink specials.
ANC Commissioners feel these measures will reduce levels of underage drinking in the community. Drinking specials, they believe, make it that much easier for underage college students to get alcohol. ANC Commissioners Peter Pulsifer and Bill Starrels, who chairs the ANC’s liquor license committee, recently went to Champions and said they found females who flirted with bouncers were usually guaranteed admission.
Underage drinking undoubtedly takes place in most Georgetown bars, but cutting out drink specials won’t necessarily solve the problem. The ANC should focus, as it has been doing, on encouraging bars to more closely monitor their drinking practices. This can be done with the addition of computerized ID card readers that could more accurately spot fake IDs. Furthermore, Metropolitan Police officers now have the authority to enter bars and check each patron’s ID a second time using a small, hand-held computerized card reader. According to a recent Washington Post article, these small devices have already been used effectively at Champions, also targeted by the ANC.
Raising the price of alcohol might have some effect, but probably not much. Georgetown students typically have money to spend and, on weekends, they tend to spend their money at bars. In response to ANC pressure, furthermore, Rhino’s has also agreed to place a heavier emphasis on its food selection, but this probably won’t do anything to curb underage drinking. Students usually don’t purchase food at Rhino’s, but even if they did, this wouldn’t discourage them from purchasing alcohol.
The main problem with the ANC’s recommendations is that they interfere with free enterprise. Just as the federal government can’t tell businesses how to advertise their products, the ANC just can’t tell local bars which of their products to advertise. Rhino’s not only advertises its drinking specials, but also its weekend food specials when it shows Georgetown basketball games on television. If Rhino’s managers decide to advertise one special more heavily during a given period, that choice is theirs.
The ANC doesn’t have the authority to force Champions to ban admission to under-21 individuals. Unlike Third Edition and Rhino’s, Champs refused to strike a deal with ANC commissioners regarding its drinking practices. The Alcohol and Beverage Commission will meet with Champs representatives on Feb. 13 and decide whether or not to renew its liquor license. On the one hand, Champs could benefit from a computerized ID card reader and better regulation of its bar area. Trying to persuade Champs to better enforce the drinking age is appropriate, but regulating Champs’ business policies isn’t. The ANC need look no farther than The Tombs, the most popular Georgetown student hangout, which vigorously enforces the drinking age and still attracts underage students, even during nighttime hours.
The ANC shouldn’t stop trying to find ways of discouraging underage drinking. Doing so might go a long way in improving student-neighborhood relations. The ANC shouldn’t, however, focus on solutions that discourage underage drinking at the expense of discouraging free enterprise.
