Cocktail Covers For Bostonian Bars?

The Boston City Council recently made news for a proposal that would ask local bars to offer plastic covers for cocktails. Councilor Stephen Murphy proposed that bars hand out specialty coasters with covers that can be peeled off and stuck to the top of a glass to prevent drinks from being drugged with roofies or other date rape drugs. Users could drink their beverages by sticking a straw through the cover. The video of the meeting where Murphy presented his proposal is very much worth watching (the cocktail cover discussion starts around minute 35). Murphy, who admits that he got the idea from Dateline (next up, Councilor Murphy Catches a Predator), can hardly keep from giggling as he gives his idea. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the proposal has been met with plenty of mockery from folks ranging from Murphy’s fellow Councilor John Tobin, who jokingly suggested giving everyone fanny packs in which to store their drinks, to Bostonist, who derided the measure as “late-night talk-show-host fodder.”

While we don’t see the harm in, say, offering incentives for bars to give out the special cover-coasters instead of regular coasters, it seems highly doubtful that anyone would actually use them. Drink-tampering is a very serious issue, but no one likes to look like they’re drinking a mojito out of a sippy cup. We suggest keeping your eyes and hands on your drink at all times. What do you think?

Boston City Council [Official Site]
Lids for Cocktails Inspire Critics [Boston Globe]
Cocktail Condoms? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Cocktail Condoms! [Bostonist]
Imagine sippy cups with little paper umbrellas in them [Universal Hub]

Cocktail Covers For Bostonian Bars?