El Cajon City Officials Laud Success of New Alcohol Sales Ordinance

In El Cajon, a creative approach helps reduce problem drinking and crimes tied to alcohol abuse.

The city has a history of public drunkenness and illegal alcohol sales, to minors.

So El Cajon got creative: banning the sale of cheap, fortified wine, hard liquor in "mini-bottles," and large, single containers of beer and malt liquor.

On Friday, city leaders discussed their successful strategy. They say public drunkenness is down 35 percent with instances of drinking-in-public down 26 percent.

They also cite a 93-percent drop in minors arrested for possession of alcohol.

El Cajon's Mayor Bill Wells said liquor stores were nervous about the crackdown, but now embrace the new laws.

"Once the word got out that this was happening, and that we're catching them doing this and there would be some consequences to that, that cleaned up really well," Well said.

Retailers who don't comply with the the laws can have liquor license suspended.

El Cajon says it's the first city in San Diego to use this innovative approach to liquor sales, that makes store owners part of the solution not just a target for law enforcement.

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