One danger that can put anyone and everyone at risk is the concept of public intoxication. And although sunny San Diego’s summer time is slowly coming to an end, despite these sweltering Fall days, there are still people that tend to enjoy their days with a few beers before venturing out to make the most out of their lives. From personally witnessing a couple cases this summer, I have seen a few examples of the dangers that alcohol can bring to the table.
Even though public intoxication is not considered a crime unless you fall into a certain criteria, as stated by the Penal Code 647(f), aka “drunk in public” law, there are still serious annoyances and dangers that public intoxication can cause.
In one case, a friend and I were merely trying to enjoy an outing in Pacific Beach over my summer vacation, when I happened to stop by the local Denny’s. While we were there, we had been approached by two gentlemen, older than us, that reeked of liquor. During this experience, my friend and I had found ourselves trapped in our booth, each with one of the men on the side we would exit from and had to endure our meal with the awkward company of the duo. From this, one can easily see how these two made what could have been an enjoyable evening, one that we wished had never happened.
A serious danger that public intoxication can pose is the fact that someone under an influence may be prone to making unnecessarily risky and potentially fatal choices.
While on an outing in Point Loma to take pictures of Sunset Cliffs and the cove, some friends and I acquainted ourselves with a young gentleman who was fairly intoxicated and proceeding to jump off the cliffs in a wild fashion. After he disappeared for sometime, he reluctantly came back for his friend who had been worried of his whereabouts and all seemed fine; that is until he pulls off one insane jump that resulted in him floating up unconscious in the water. With the alcohol impairing his judgment, it was easy to see how he should not have been making such risky choices in jumping off the cliffs, which is already illegal.
A third encounter I happened to have with someone drunk in public was once again at the local Pacific Beach Denny’s. This time, upon walking in, another friend and I happened to notice a gentleman that was too drunk to sit up straight and eat his food. After almost two hours of eat, conversations, and acquainting ourselves with some of the other customers, everyone had noticed how the gentleman was “blackout drunk” and some customers proceeded to take selfies with his passed out body. After taking his time to wake him up, and employee was able to get him coherent enough to get into a taxi to take him home. In this instance, not only was the gentleman making the poor decision of getting as belligerent as he was, but he was in a fairly embarrassing situation that he possibly would have been heated with if he had been coherent.
These three instances stuck out to me personally. There are countless things that could happen while someone ventures out intoxicated: driving under the influence, starting random street fights, stumbling into the roads due to impaired judgment, and so on. All in all, people should think more on whether or not they really want to go out after a night of drinking, because it could save others from potential dangers or worries in the long run. The potential dangers and risks are no laughing matter and should definitely be taken into account when you are consuming substances.