Re-opening of New Mexico bars/breweries is long overdue

UPDATE: this post was written on Tuesday, June 9. The Gov. announced the partial reopening of breweries on June 11. Bars remain closed.  

As with so many aspects of our Gov.’s economic shutdown the “science” behind the ongoing shutdown of bars and breweries just doesn’t add up. The  Gov.’s plan is here. It doesn’t even mention bars and breweries (who, by the way have been incredibly quiet and patient during this shutdown).

One assumes that the reasoning behind the shutdown goes something like this: people drink at these places and drinking can cause a loss of judgement, thus a loss of “social distancing.”

That is all fine, but many breweries in particular have patios and outdoor seating. It seems hard to believe those couldn’t have been opened months ago. Of course the difference between a “restaurant” and a “bar” or “brewery” is not always apparent. It simply has to do with the percentage of food sold relative to alcohol. 

New Mexico’s brewing industry was one of the State’s real economic success stories due in large part to some big tax changes made by the Legislature. One wonders how these businesses are faring and how many of them will open when the Gov. finally allows them to get back to business. One hopes that is on June 15 (or even June 12 to get the weekend started).