Students of legal drinking age are pretty used to the routine by now of pre-gaming at home, meeting with friends to walk to the bar and making the most of the night before the “last call” at one in the morning. For many student drinkers, this means that after one, you either have to bring your friends back to your place or find somewhere to go to continue the party until you want to sleep. But what if the last call wasn’t until two in the morning? Well, that is the premise of a new bill in New Hampshire that has sparked conversations among the local bar scene and city council.
Emma Contic / Graphics Editor
The bill passed in the House with a 208-123 vote, and is now awaiting approval from the Senate. Even if the bill passes in the Senate, the bill offers the option of allowing local communities the choice of extending a town’s last call to 2 a.m. or not. And by the looks of what council members have said so far, the likelihood that Keene would adopt this new last call seems pretty slim.
But as the student voice of the college, The Equinox sees the student side of these situations that may shed new light on this debate.
We believe it would cut down on the amount of house parties. After the bar closes, instead of drunkenly wandering around the streets, they would just go home and sleep instead of creating trouble at a nearby house party.
The extra hour should not be for forcing down more drinks, instead students should responsibly drink and use the extra hour to slow down their intake and hydrate themselves before they leave.
If students know the bars close at one, then they will be making plans during the bar time to figure out what will happen next. And if students get too drunk before they can find something else to do afterwards, they’re left wandering the street intoxicated at night, presumably to go to another party.
The Equinox thinks that allowing the bars to be open until 2 a.m. would allow for safer drinking locations to be open longer and make more money off their dedicated college patrons. While we recognize the possibility of a greater increase in DUI arrests, students should be drinking responsibly, no matter what time last call is. A 2 a.m. closing time is no excuse to continue binge drinking, it can be a little bit more time to socialize with friends.
It might cut down on the amount of students causing trouble at house parties. With the great variety of bars in Keene, students wouldn’t worry about where to go on a late weekend night.