NEW ORLEANS – On the booziest street in America, news that the Surgeon General thinks alcohol should come with warning labels is being met with a resounding “meh.”
Perhaps it’s no surprise that in a city built on letting the “good times roll,” people on Bourbon Street aren’t dissuaded from boozing it up. After all, this is a place where authorities permit drinkers to openly carry beverages named “the Horny Gator” or the “Hand Grenade.”
“We know McDonald’s is bad and we still pull up on that drive-through every week,” said New Orleans native Shakira Morgan, 28.
Added tourist Jorge Montanez of Oklahoma, in between sips of his “Vegas Bomb” cocktail: “People are gonna do what they want to do.”
More:America’s surgeon general calls for cancer warnings on alcoholic beverages
Bourbon Street has long been party central, and little changed in the hours after Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Friday outlined the direct link between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk. He called for Congress to mandate warning labels similar to those on cigarettes and other nicotine products.
“Alcohol is poison. We know this,” said bartender Keithon Burnette, 39, waiting for customers outside Cafe Lafitte in Exile on Bourbon Street. “People already know what they’re putting in their bodies.”
Burnette said booze is no different than cigarettes or hot dogs: Buyers know what they’re getting and still make that choice. A bodybuilder, he said he always knew hot dogs were unhealthy. He only changed his habits once he saw a documentary about what’s in them. It wasn’t government regulation that changed his mind, he said.
“I mean, I still eat hot dogs, but not as many,” Burnette laughed.
More:Cancer warning labels on alcohol? It’s not that simple.
As he sipped a High Noon seltzer while walking Bourbon Street, tourist and liquor distributor Will Williams said he’s frustrated the Surgeon General’s warning comes in the waning days of the Biden administration. He said that smacks of politics, not good policy.
Williams said the liquor industry is already struggling, largely because young people are increasingly consuming THC vapes and edibles. Speaking as a beer-delivery truck rolled past, he said telling people that liquor can cause cancer could hurt business even worse.
“Slapping a warning label on the side of that truck? Terrible,” he said. “In my opinion, if you are dealing with a regulated substance that already has an age restriction on it, you should be doing your own research into whether or not it’s something you should consume.”
