over the weekend, Vancouver police asked the liquor control board to close liquor stores downtown to lessen alcohol-fuelled violence and make the crowds easier to control.

this comes after VPD asked drinkers to leave the booze at home.

the idea seems, to The Publican, ludicrous.

consider that nightclubs and bars along Granville Street — many of them #2010profiteers — and hospitality tents (that are raking in the dough) break the law by serving intoxicated patrons.

consider that a bar is serving liquor 24 hours a day, blocks away from VPD headquarters on Cambie Street.

consider that a $1-billion tab is being paid to enable a 15,000-strong force to ensure public safety and Olympic security during the Games.

could B.C. not be recouping some of the costs of the Games by — instead of asking liquor stores to stop selling booze after 7 p.m., and cutting off money that goes almost directly into the province’s coffers, to reduce public drunkenness — ticketing people who are drunk (and frequently urinating) in public and enforcing the laws in place to discourage bars from overserving patrons?