The World Cup matches have brought new changes to Boston, bringing visitors from faraway lands, new train schedules, and open-container drinking in the Boston area.
Mayor Michelle Wu announced two new “social districts” over the weekend: designated areas downtown where people can drink openly in public. One is located at Union and Marshall streets in the Blackstone Block Historic District near Faneuil Hall and a second at Temple Place in Downtown Crossing.
Gov. Maura Healey signed a bill temporarily allowing municipalities to create those districts and extending last call by an hour in cities and towns that choose to opt in, through July 31, as an influx of visitors arrive to Greater Boston for the World Cup, America 250 celebrations and the Tall Ships.
For people who are newly sober or trying to maintain sobriety, though, experts agree the best decision is to stay away from any places that create temptation or puts their sobriety in jeopardy. And everyone should make a plan to get home safely after a night of drinking.
James Barry, director of operations for Strength Recovery Services in Weymouth, is in recovery and doesn’t have difficulty being around alcohol. He said international visitors are bringing their own drinking cultures to Boston, like Scotland, where Barry points out people start drinking younger.
“Drinking isn’t as big of a deal in other cultures,” he said. “It is so normalized.”
Barry said, although they tend to drink a lot, the Tartan Army has been respectful while in Boston.
“If people are in these public spaces, they’re staying to the areas they should be, they’re being respectful, they’re not causing fights, ... and they’re taking Uber or something, they’re not driving drunk, I’m OK with it,” Barry said. “But again, it just takes one person making a bad decision to ruin everybody’s time.”
Mary Kate DePamphilis with Mothers Against Drunk Driving Massachusetts said they urge people to plan ahead on how they’ll get home.
“Plan to use a ride share like Uber or Lyft, public transportation, taxis, or choose a non-drinking designated driver,” she wrote in a statement. “MADD’s hope is that all come to the area to enjoy these competitive games on the world stage, without tragedy or heartbreak.”
Jessica Duenas, who’s also in recovery and is a life coach at The Luckiest Club, said these new rules could make things difficult for sober people.
“For someone struggling with getting sober, sometimes they feel that they might need to use alcohol or other substances as some sort of ‘social lubricant’ to engage with other people,” she said. “So incredibly permissive spaces can make that challenging, for sure, when it’s pretty much everywhere.”
But alcohol is a moneymaker, so she points out there’s a financial upside that is hard to deny for local business owners.
“If you look at any menu, any restaurant menu, any bar menu, drinks with alcohol in them are incredibly expensive. So it is a great opportunity for a city to make a lot of money.”
Still, Duenas asks: At what cost?
Wu said the social districts are meant to bolster nightlife during the World Cup, allowing visitors and residents to “have fun responsibly” and “sip and stroll.”
For anyone struggling with addiction to alcohol or any substance where these places can be triggering and create temptation, experts agree the bottom line is good decision-making.
“People need to be responsible and ultimately take accountability for what they’re doing,” Barry said. “We need to be responsible for our actions. We need to hold ourselves accountable, and if we don’t hold ourselves accountable, others will hold us accountable.”
