What ever happened to 4 a.m. bar closing time?

[Detroitgayhistoryguy]

A few years back Gov. Granholm had proposed letting some bars, if they paid for a special license stay open until 4 a.m. I think Detroit could really use this, Detroit needs something special to attract people to downtown nightlife. Some argue that it would lead to more drunks on the road later, closer to rush hour in the morning. I disagree with that. You've all seen people slamming drinks at 2 a.m. last call, I think most people would moderate better if they had more time. There will always be people who drink too much and drive no matter what time the bar closes. But I think a 4 a.m. closing would actually lead to less drunks on the road.

[mikefmich]

I think you're delusionary about the habits of drinkers.

The last thing the city needs is allowing a later closing time....or anywhere for that matter.

[jtf1972]

Having lived in a city where there was a 4am cutoff, I found there to be less pressure. It was a weird sort of effect. Where here it can be 11pm & you are thinking "Only three more hours." When it is a 4am cutoff, I found at 11pm I would think "There is no way I am staying til 4. Time to get out of here."

Of course, in NYC you have less a problem with drunk driving... as the bars tend to not have parking lots & you take this thing called "public transit."

Perhaps if MADD got on a pro-transit kick we could get something done about it.

[SteveJ]

I don't think extending drinking for 2 hours is going to attract more people or have less drunks on the road. Seriously, nothing good can come out of this.

[laphoque]

Yes! Extend the drinking hours, allow marijuana, build efficient transit with public tracking. Do these things and Detroit will be more of a regional draw than it already is.

[Hamtragedy]

I dunno. This is a late gettin' to the bar kinda town, and barkeepers know it. And when the bars do close at two, there's plenty left to do. Why not bring it all above ground.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Being out that late attracts opportunists to commit crimes. Who stays in a bar and drinks until 4 AM anyways?

[mikefmich]

Being out that late attracts opportunists to commit crimes. Who stays in a bar and drinks until 4 AM anyways?

Ex-fooken-actly.

[Occurrence]

I don't care about bars, they should be able to close whenever they want.

With weird working hours, I don't get why I can't walk into a Meijer and buy booze at 3 A.M. What does making me wait until 7 accomplish?

Giving adults "curfews" is stupid. The drinking age also needs to be 18, there is no logical reason why it's still 21. That's absurd.

[KJ5]

Detroiters are gonna party all night anyways. I've been to a bunch of parties that start at 2 a.m.

[Meddle]

Giving adults "curfews" is stupid. The drinking age also needs to be 18, there is no logical reason why it's still 21. That's absurd.

It was 18. People got stupid, so it was changed back to 21.

I don't see the point of blackout hours at stores though.

[laphoque]

It was 18. People got stupid, so it was changed back to 21.

I don't see the point of blackout hours at stores though.

That's not the case. Reagan made a 21 year old drinking age a requirement for federal highway funding--essentially mandating the change. Not that there weren't stupid drunk 18 year olds at the time and not that the law change has rid our streets of stupid drunk 18 year olds.

Prohibitive policies do not reduce harm.

[antongast]

Who stays in a bar and drinks until 4 AM anyways?

In Detroit? A whole hell of a lot of people. I've done it. It's fun. Most places cut off the taps at 2 'cause if they don't they won't last long, but that doesn't mean everybody leaves.

[MidTownMs]

Detroiters are gonna party all night anyways. I've been to a bunch of parties that start at 2 a.m.

Me too especially when I got off at 2:00 am when I worked at the Downtown Post Office.

[Detroitgayhistoryguy]

I know it sounds counter intuitive, but I really think more people would be more sober by the time they went home. Plus, if they could make it a Detroit city thing only, it would be an attraction for Detroit. New Orleans, Chicago, Atlanta, a lot of other cities have this.

[iheartthed]

Being out that late attracts opportunists to commit crimes. Who stays in a bar and drinks until 4 AM anyways?

I do. I'm sure people who work afternoon and evening shifts do too.

Personally, I don't think it's smart to force a bunch of drunk people out onto the streets at the same time right after you've sold them a bunch of alcohol. But that's what Michigan's law encourages bars to do since it requires them to close at 2am as well.

[Ray1936]

This has been a previous thread a year back or so. For what it's worth, and to repeat, Nevada's bars/taverns are all open 24/7, and it's no particular problem.

The 2 a.m. closing law in Michigan is just an old carry-over from the post-prohibition days.

Me? An occasional glass of wine; that's it.

[brizee]

Yes! Extend the drinking hours, allow marijuana, build efficient transit with public tracking. Do these things and Detroit will be more of a regional draw than it already is.

Write-in and I'll vote for you!

Don't matter which office!

[downtownguy]

But I think a 4 a.m. closing would actually lead to less drunks on the road.

I think there's solid evidence that backs this up. But I'm too lazy to look it up now. 2 a.m.... 4 a.m... it's all arbitrary anyway.

[adamjab19]

What I wonder about this law, and I was just looking up information about it, is that how do you apply for said extra bar hours. I am not in the restaurant business so maybe the owners and managers know these things but as a member of the curious general public there is NO information about it. It's public act 259 of 2005 if anyone cares.

[SteveJ]

Why would anyone assume that more people would go to Detroit then say their local bar if they were both open until 4 am.

[Detroitgayhistoryguy]

Who stays in a bar and drinks until 4 AM anyways?

I do, Lol!

[mam2009]

Personally, I don't think it's smart to force a bunch of drunk people out onto the streets at the same time right after you've sold them a bunch of alcohol. But that's what Michigan's law encourages bars to do since it requires them to close at 2am as well.

What difference does the alcohol cutoff time make? Wouldn't that just be sending the drinkers out on the streets at 4am instead of 2am? I'm not a ”party girl” so I don't know the philosophy of your average late night partygoer/watering hole frequenter. I'm sleepy by 11:30.

[shovelhead]

That's not the case. Reagan made a 21 year old drinking age a requirement for federal highway funding--essentially mandating the change. Not that there weren't stupid drunk 18 year olds at the time and not that the law change has rid our streets of stupid drunk 18 year olds.

Prohibitive policies do not reduce harm.

Reagan did not cause Michigan to change the minimum drinking age. He was elected in 1980. From Wikipedia:

Michigan	?	21 [[Age of majority)	Lowered to 18 in 1972 [[Jan 1) [[w/ age of majority)[29]	Raised to 19 in 1978 [[Dec 3)[30][31] Raised to 21 in 1978 [[Dec 21), 18 days later.[4] First state to raise age to 21 since it was lowered	21

It was changed back to 21 due to a spate of alcohol-related fatalities including one that was in the Pinckney area that involved five or six legal teenage drinkers that were at a bar on Portage Lake. That place was behind my cousin's house and was the trouble spot for the neighborhood.

I tried searching the MCL number in the state's website but I'm not too good in finding anything there. Yahoo Search Engine is your friend when you are search inept like I am.

I turned twenty in 1972 so I was "Been there, done that"

[laphoque]

Opps. I was mistaken. Michigan was one of the states which had already raised the drinking age before Reagan forced the majority of states that were at 18 to raise it up. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationa...inking_Age_Act