Michael J. Scippa, Alcohol Justice, Tiburon

It would be more objective if all publications would include the public health perspective when covering the issue of extending last call at bars.

Senate Bill 58 is Sen. Scott Wiener’s relentlessly dangerous 4 a.m. bar bill. It marks the third consecutive year in which he has attempted to disrupt the public health and safety protections of California’s standardized last call time of 2 a.m.

If passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the bill would allow a poorly conceived “pilot project” to turn 76% of the state’s population into “Splash Zone” lab animals.  

As did Wiener’s past two attempts, SB 58 disregards 40 years of peer-reviewed, public health research on the dangers of extending last call. It is imperative that concerned Californians stop the bill.

After all, later last call times are associated with more violence, injury, emergency room impact, crime and enforcement costs, and early-morning dangerous driving. Alcohol Justice and the California Alcohol Policy Alliance encourage opponents to text Justice to 313131 to tell legislators to stop the 4 a.m. bar bill.