5 ms·

Nice change I suppose, though it's still insane that the US has such strong prohibitions against drinking alcohol in public imo.

Schnitz 1y ago
Especially in SF where you can smell someone smoking weed on pretty much any street.
- sitkack 1y ago
  In NYC esp from Chelsea to the Village you literally can't get away from the smell of weed, even indoors, as the ventilators will suck it in. I don't terribly mind, but some people really don't like it. If it was a glade plugin, I'd lose my mind, now that is a chemical weapon.
busymom0 1y ago
Here in Ottawa, Canada, they are planning on allowing drinking in parks this year: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/alcohol-park-pilot-project-ottawa-2025-1.7558277 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/alcohol-park-pilot-pro...
- fanatic2pope 1y ago
  Toronto did it too, and it has been fine. https://secrettoronto.co/legal-drinking-toronto-parks/ https://secrettoronto.co/legal-drinking-toronto-parks/
AnotherGoodName 1y ago
Yeah when i moved to the USA i found it jarring when someone explained to me the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-container_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-container_law A widespread law specific to the USA that doesn't seem to be a thing anywhere else in the world. We can take beers to a picnic in our parks. Shocking i know. Other societies haven't collapsed from allowing this.
- SR2Z 1y ago
  To be very fair, I do not know a single person who has ever been charged with this. I and all my friends drink in the park all the time and the cops don't seem to care. If I get on a crowded bus, odds are good that there's a homeless man with a brown paper bag. This law is probably only enforced against businesses selling booze or people who are being a nuisance.
  - dawnerd 1y ago
    Might surprise you but it affects minorities the most and a common excuse for an officer to probe them for possibly worse crimes.
    - wat10000 1y ago
      That’s what “people who are being a nuisance” means.
      - deleted 1y ago
        [deleted]
      - kaikai 1y ago
        Did you mean to equate minorities with “people who are being a nuisance?”
        wat10000 1y ago
        No, I mean to say that police equate them.
    - SR2Z 1y ago
      I am a minority, and my friends are different minorities. It probably varies from place to place but this law is vestigial for us.
  - christina97 1y ago
    One problem with this is that it now ends up being at the discretion of the officer to decide whether to charge you, so it is up to their biases and beliefs whether you are indeed “friends drinking in a park” or “being a nuisance”.
drfuchs 1y ago
Perhaps strong no-alcohol-in-public laws are related to weak no-guns-in-public laws.
- throwawaymaths 1y ago
  you could open carry in California until about 2010ish
whalesalad 1y ago
I remember walking through a neighborhood in Sweden, in the town of Örebro, with a tallboy beer. I was there on an extended work trip, but had met some friends in town who invited me to social gatherings. So they said let's go to the club, we can take these drinks to go it's no problem. I assumed it was fine, since there seems to be much more tolerance and acceptance of this in Europe. As we were walking down the road... a Volvo police car comes screaming towards us, lights and sirens going. It stops and - arguably one of the most beautiful police officers I have ever seen - approached me and started to speak in Swedish. I apologized and said sorry I do not speak Swedish, I am a visitor from the US. She chuckled and said, "Your friends are not being honest with you - you cannot drink this on the street - please pour it out". Then as quick as she stopped, she said, "We are hunting for a a shooting suspect, gotta go" and jumped back in and left. It was the most "American" European experience I have ever had. So we can't drink on the street? And a shooting has happened? Wild.
- bombcar 1y ago
  I’m going to presume that “We are hunting for a a shooting suspect, gotta go” is what they are taught in police training to say to an American when they have to leave. There is no evidence available that will ever change my mind.
  - whalesalad 1y ago
    Just a few months ago there was a fairly large shooting event in the same town, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96rebro_school_shooting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96rebro_school_shooting
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
redczar 1y ago
The U.S. has effectively made walking illegal or unpalatable in most places. https://digitalcommons.tourolaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1727&context=scholarlyworks https://digitalcommons.tourolaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?arti...
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
eddd-ddde 1y ago
It's like the CAP theorem. Permissive firearm policy, public drinking, free healthcare. For some reason the US only gets one of those.

Schnitz 1y ago

Especially in SF where you can smell someone smoking weed on pretty much any street.

sitkack 1y ago
In NYC esp from Chelsea to the Village you literally can't get away from the smell of weed, even indoors, as the ventilators will suck it in. I don't terribly mind, but some people really don't like it. If it was a glade plugin, I'd lose my mind, now that is a chemical weapon.

busymom0 1y ago

Here in Ottawa, Canada, they are planning on allowing drinking in parks this year: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/alcohol-park-pilot-project-ottawa-2025-1.7558277 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/alcohol-park-pilot-pro...

fanatic2pope 1y ago
Toronto did it too, and it has been fine. https://secrettoronto.co/legal-drinking-toronto-parks/ https://secrettoronto.co/legal-drinking-toronto-parks/

AnotherGoodName 1y ago

Yeah when i moved to the USA i found it jarring when someone explained to me the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-container_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-container_law A widespread law specific to the USA that doesn't seem to be a thing anywhere else in the world. We can take beers to a picnic in our parks. Shocking i know. Other societies haven't collapsed from allowing this.

SR2Z 1y ago
To be very fair, I do not know a single person who has ever been charged with this. I and all my friends drink in the park all the time and the cops don't seem to care. If I get on a crowded bus, odds are good that there's a homeless man with a brown paper bag. This law is probably only enforced against businesses selling booze or people who are being a nuisance.
- dawnerd 1y ago
  Might surprise you but it affects minorities the most and a common excuse for an officer to probe them for possibly worse crimes.
  - wat10000 1y ago
    That’s what “people who are being a nuisance” means.
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
    - kaikai 1y ago
      Did you mean to equate minorities with “people who are being a nuisance?”
      - wat10000 1y ago
        No, I mean to say that police equate them.
  - SR2Z 1y ago
    I am a minority, and my friends are different minorities. It probably varies from place to place but this law is vestigial for us.
- christina97 1y ago
  One problem with this is that it now ends up being at the discretion of the officer to decide whether to charge you, so it is up to their biases and beliefs whether you are indeed “friends drinking in a park” or “being a nuisance”.

drfuchs 1y ago

Perhaps strong no-alcohol-in-public laws are related to weak no-guns-in-public laws.

throwawaymaths 1y ago
you could open carry in California until about 2010ish

whalesalad 1y ago

I remember walking through a neighborhood in Sweden, in the town of Örebro, with a tallboy beer. I was there on an extended work trip, but had met some friends in town who invited me to social gatherings. So they said let's go to the club, we can take these drinks to go it's no problem. I assumed it was fine, since there seems to be much more tolerance and acceptance of this in Europe. As we were walking down the road... a Volvo police car comes screaming towards us, lights and sirens going. It stops and - arguably one of the most beautiful police officers I have ever seen - approached me and started to speak in Swedish. I apologized and said sorry I do not speak Swedish, I am a visitor from the US. She chuckled and said, "Your friends are not being honest with you - you cannot drink this on the street - please pour it out". Then as quick as she stopped, she said, "We are hunting for a a shooting suspect, gotta go" and jumped back in and left. It was the most "American" European experience I have ever had. So we can't drink on the street? And a shooting has happened? Wild.

bombcar 1y ago
I’m going to presume that “We are hunting for a a shooting suspect, gotta go” is what they are taught in police training to say to an American when they have to leave. There is no evidence available that will ever change my mind.
- whalesalad 1y ago
  Just a few months ago there was a fairly large shooting event in the same town, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96rebro_school_shooting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96rebro_school_shooting
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]

redczar 1y ago

The U.S. has effectively made walking illegal or unpalatable in most places. https://digitalcommons.tourolaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1727&context=scholarlyworks https://digitalcommons.tourolaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?arti...

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

eddd-ddde 1y ago

It's like the CAP theorem. Permissive firearm policy, public drinking, free healthcare. For some reason the US only gets one of those.