Missouri Contending with Rowdy Paddlers
3 Feb
“There’s so many drunks out. People don’t think it’s safe to be on the rivers Friday, Saturday and Sunday.”
So said Missouri Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee Chair Matt Bartle, according to THIS Springfield News-Leader story. His committee recently heard testimony in support of a bill which would ban beer kegs, styrofoam coolers, Jell-O containing alcohol, and “beer bongs” used for binge drinking by paddlers on Missouri rivers.
The legislation would also prohibit the exchange of Mardi Gras bead necklaces for displays of nudity.
Intoxication and nudity have, apparently, become commonplace on some of Missouri’s best canoeing rivers, especially the Niangua River in the southwestern part of the state. Proponents of the bill seek guidelines similar to those already in place for federally protected rivers that prohibit drinking paraphernalia.
