Stopping the sale of alcohol at 3am is not going to help at great deal. Underage and excessive drinking will not suddenly disappear just because bars stop serving at 3am. More likely, there will be a 3am swill. People knowing that the tap is about to be turned off will have several “”last drinks” at the clock edges to 3am. Rather than helping excessive drinking, it may add to it.
Further, people are likely to buy takeaway liquor and move off-site causing just as much trouble or more than if they were allowed to keep drinking in licensed premises where there is at least some control.
When the 3am limit does not work, there will be inevitable calls for a 2am or a 1am closing. The underlying problems will remain unaddressed.
A 3am deadline might empty the bars and clubs in Civic in one hit so the problem of disorderly drunks is at least manageable and it might enable public transport to be concentrated at that time. But concentrating a problem is not solving it.
Experience shows that prohibition has never been a satisfactory control mechanism. Humans are too cunning. They will find a way around the rules. Closing bars at 3am is just a gimmick to be seen to be doing something.
A stronger police presence in Civic is being shown to be effective in dealing with the violence that flows from excessive drinking. Efforts in that direction, although more difficult for governments, are likely to bring better results than a 3am close.