“There are more bars than pharmacies in Goa and nobody can do anything about it,” said Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza at a function to commemorate International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. One would have expected a more positive response from the deputy chief minister instead of a helpless one. What he said is a reflection of the ground reality in the state and one cannot fault him for it. But saying that nothing can be done about it is equivalent to saying, ‘I give up.’ Kerala, Bihar, Nagaland, Gujarat and Manipur did not say, ‘we give up’. On the contrary they took the alcohol bull by the horns and slapped bans on the brew because it was destroying society. Goa, on the other hand, seems to have stretched liberal culture to the limit. There is a belief that curbs on alcohol will destroy the tourism sector. Although there is no study to prove this perception, no one wants to take a risk and that is understandable. But it is demeaning to think that tourists come to Goa only to gamble and booze, as if there is nothing else of importance. Agitations against off-shore casinos resulted in a cap on the number of boats in the Mandovi. Similarly, a cap on the number of bars and gradual reduction would not only help Goa, but also benefit tourism in the long term. If Kerala tourism survived a partial alcohol ban, so could tourism in Goa.
