Rubber, Buns, and Liquor

The Wall Street Journal has an article today (subscription required) about the Washington State initiative to deregulate its liquor stores. The measure would privatize the state run liquor stores and enable grocery stores to sell liquor, just like they do to great effect in Cali. A Portland area news station has more, reporting that, if passed, the state would end up shedding 900 workers due to the privatization. I haven't yet been able to find out if the tax is still sky-high, but the price is bound to go down due to competition, even if it's still there.

This is great news, so long as you're not a neo-prohibitionist. When I lived in Seattle, liquor was pretty hard to access, especially if you lived downtown. Being government-run, the stores had ridiculous hours. If the idea was to prevent people from drinking too much, it backfired, as you would just stock up on a ton to make sure you didn't run out. Virginia was the same way; I would end up driving to Maryland at ten o'clock at night because the government run stores would shut down. So much for preventing driving.

I've heard (but am too lazy to look up) that one of the reasons for so much control is to encourage consumption of beer and wine, as Washington has an abundance of local breweries and wineries. As a brewer myself, I appreciate the variety and supply sources it brings, but I can't help but think that micro-distilleries are the next wave. When I was in Kentucky a few months ago, the bourbon aisle of the liquor store was packed with local labels that all held their slots in the minds of whiskey takers.