'Burb Battles Public Drinking with Warm Beer
No cold single containers of beer for sale
By MATT BARTOSIK
Updated 11:55 AM CST, Sat, Oct 24, 2009
Village officials in Arlington Heights are betting that local sots will be turned off by warm beer.
A new law this week bans the sale of 24-ounce (or greater) single cans and 12-ounce (or more) single bottles of refrigerated beer. Customers can still purchase single cans and bottles; they'll just have to get them from the shelf, not the fridge.
The law, which takes effect in January, is a compromise between village officials who wanted an absolute prohibition on single-container sales and retailers who didn't want to lose money.
Arlington Heights expects the legislation to deter those individuals who drink in public, camouflaging their alcohol with a paper bag.
We never realized those classy indulgers were such picky connoisseurs.
In addition to the warm-beer policy, single containers of wine will have to be larger than 10 ounces and other alcoholic beverages will have to be larger than 6.4 ounces.
But will warm beer really cut down on public drinking?
"Don't be surprised if it doesn't work out to the hopes of the Police Department," Arlington Heights village trustee Joe Farwell told the Chicago Tribune.
"The alcoholic isn't going to sit there and say, 'Well, I like my beer cold.'"
Matt Bartosik, a "between blogs" blogger, will drink any beer you buy for him.
Copyright NBC Local Media / NBC Chicago
First Published: Oct 23, 2009 11:46 AM CST
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