City staff and Alcohol License Review Committee members have recently proposed an alcohol ban list"" in an attempt to prevent chronic street alcoholics in Madison from purchasing alcohol.
There is no definition of what it takes to be put on the list. However, according to Katherine Plominski, the city's alcohol policy coordinator, a person would have to receive a combination of six or more alcohol citations or detox-center referrals within a year to make the list.
Once on the list, violators would be unable to purchase alcohol from liquor stores, and to be removed individuals would need to go 180 days without an alcohol-related citation or trip to detox.
Although these are only the beginnings of the plan with no official criteria set in place, we applaud any action to deter chronic alcoholics from purchasing liquor for both financial and social reasons.
According to Todd Campbell, alcohol and other drug abuse services manager for Dane County, it costs $261.52 per person for a single day in detox. One potential member of this list was sent to detox 46 times within a year, totaling $12,029.92. This is a substantial amount of money lost to a single person, let alone the potentially 100 or more who would be put on the list. Although the person sent to detox would be responsible for the cost, many habitual drinkers cannot afford to pay such an amount.
Also, the individuals who would be targeted are those who disrupt or endanger Madison residents, and any preventative measures could improve the safety of the city.
Although the ALRC and city staff are off to a great start with this proposal, more needs to be done.
City staff and the ALRC must adopt a strict policy to confront the problem of habitual drinkers head-on. Three alcohol-related citations in one year should earn both a no-selling policy in liquor stores and a no-serving policy in bars. Green Bay adopted a similar policy 10 years ago, and their problem sectors saw an immediate decrease in habitual drunks and fewer complaints from concerned residents. Madison has a problem with both, and Green Bay's solution provided clear results.
Madison's problem drinkers remain unfazed by citation after citation. The only way to curb such behavior is to cut off the source of their addiction and use a ban list to reinforce the negative effects associated with habitual drunkenness.
