Mexico City Legislator Proposes Ban on the Sale of Cold Beer

The multiple bodegas within a block of my apartment keep their fridges stocked many cans deep with frosty PBRs and Naragansetts, which means that after making a purchase, I can be home in a matter of minutes (if not seconds) to crack open a cold one. If I truly did not give a damn, I could just start drinking on my walk home. And if that beer is room temperature, it might take me a little longer to start drinking—but hey, sometimes I’m not so discerning.

According to a lawmaker in Mexico City, though, keeping beer warm might be key to curb the city’s public drinking problem. Lourdes Paz Reyes introduced a motion yesterday that would ban the sale of beer if it’s “refrigerated or in different conditions than the ambient temperature,” the Guardian reported. The ruling would also extend to drinks with less than 7 percent ABV to cover the most easily chuggable malt beverages, too, the rationale being that people won’t drink immediately if their drinks aren’t cold.

The motion will target the city’s convenience stores, as well as mom-and-pop shops, which sometimes provide plastic cups with big bottles of cold beer, the Guardian wrote. Alcohol sellers would also need to post more signage informing people of the fees for public drinking.

Reyes’s motion quickly earned criticism and mocking through the hashtag “#ConLasCervezasNo,” which includes plenty of pictures of people drinking beer and, of course, the classic response GIF of Toby Maguire crying.

If Mexico City does have a problem with public drinking, it’s probably not helped by tourist guides that say things like, “If you want to drink a cold beer while walking down a street on a hot day, go ahead.”