SPOKANE, Wash. – Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown supported an ordinance to establish an Alcohol Impact Area (AIA) downtown Thursday. She argued that the ordinance is needed due to a significant increase in alcohol-related incidents.
Brown stated that the city’s previous AIA ordinance was repealed several years ago. Since then, the city says that alcohol-related incidents have risen by 64 percent over the last three years. Her goal is to address these issues by prohibiting the sale of single-serve alcohol containers.
Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall offered his thoughts on the ordinance proposal.
“Re-establishing an Alcohol Impact Area is an important step toward addressing some of the root causes of crime within downtown Spokane,” Hall said.
In addition to the AIA ordinance, a second proposal aims to reduce drug overdoses. This proposal would require businesses selling smoking paraphernalia, such as glass pipes or foils, to provide customers with naloxone at no additional charge.
