We can now drink in several Michigan rivers.  Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

If you were one of the many people that lost their minds when officials attempted to enforce an alcohol ban on Michigan rivers last year, cheers.  The ban has been lifted according to IPR,

In February last year, the U.S. Forest Service tried to ban alcohol on the Au Sable, Manistee and Pine Rivers — which are federally protected waters. The agency wanted to better control dangerous, drunken behavior that was impacting the river experience.  But paddlers were up in arms over the decision, and more than 50,000 people signed a petition opposing the ban.  So the Forest Service cancelled the ban.

The Forest Service plans to focus on education programs instead of the alcohol ban.  The Forest Service goes on to say that they will have an even stronger presence at Michigan rivers than last year.

It seems like we've seen lots of accidental drownings in Michigan rivers over the last couple of years.  Some of which were deemed alcohol related.  I was unable to locate drowning stats in Michigan rivers.  However, I found the following stats for drownings in the Great Lakes from flsrp.org: 96 drownings in 2019 down from 117 in 2018.

What do you think?  Should the drinking ban on several Northern Michigan Rivers stay or are you happy to see it go?  Let us know in the comments.

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