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I wasn't sure where to put this. It could have gone in a number of sections on here. It could have been a "Clash of cultures", and it's definitely one of the "Things I Hate." Since it involves state government, I decided to put it here.
The topic of state-controlled alcohol came up in a thread on CS, and even as a mod, I found it extremely hard not to take the thread in a direction that doesn't belong on CS, so I decided to vent about it here.
For anyone who doesn't know, alcohol is strongly regulated by the government here in the state of Pennsylvania. The liquor stores are all fun by the state. Beer isn't sold at liquor stores. You have to go to a beverage distributor for that, or go to a bar and pay almost as much for a 6-pack as a distributor charges for a case.
Supermarkets and convenience stores aren't allowed to sell alcohol, although they're starting to experiment with beer and wine sales in a select few. I guess they're slowly making their way into the 20th century. Never mind that it's now the 21st century.
Since the state owns all the liquor stores, if one store doesn't have what you're looking for, or you don't like the prices, there's no going to another store, because they're all the same. Worse yet, if you go across a state line and buy some and they catch you, they'll arrest you. So not only do they get to control the prices and selection, they effectively outlaw any competition. A lot of people don't know this isn't allowed. I didn't even know until back in '99 or so, when the paper ran an article about it. They actually had cops come to stores that were just across the state line waiting in the parking lots, sitting in the parking lot and watching for cars with PA plates, and then busting them when they went back into PA. Personally, if I was one of those store owners, I would have told those cops to go pound sand.
I guess I should be glad that crime in PA has all been eliminated, and that the cops have nothing better to do, and that we have so much money in the state budget that we can pay the cops to bust people for stupid shit like that. From what I understand, the state is doing this because they're losing out on money from the sales when people buy it somewhere else, so why don't they also go after people who buy gasoline, cigarettes, or anything else taxable across state lines. Oops, I better shut up before I start giving them ideas.
There have been several attempts over the past 30 years or so to get the state out of the liquor business, including a recent one that's currently going on. Every time it happens, MADD starts screaming about how it will increase underage drinking, some politicians scream about the loss in state revenue, and some people say it will actually increase prices and hurt selection. Others claim that we have no more incidents than other states that don't control liquor, some say that the state will make money selling off the stores and continue to make money from license fees and taxes, and some say that the prices and selection in other states is better.
In the past, this topic has come up on CS, back before we had the rule against controversial topics, and some supermarket employees from PA say they're glad that they don't have to deal with sucky drunks buying alcohol. I can understand that. I don't agree with it; I think the government should not be in the alcohol business; but I can understand it. At the very least, I think the state should not be allowed to arrest people for choosing to do business somewhere else, which is a choice that customers have in just about any other situation.
The topic of state-controlled alcohol came up in a thread on CS, and even as a mod, I found it extremely hard not to take the thread in a direction that doesn't belong on CS, so I decided to vent about it here.
For anyone who doesn't know, alcohol is strongly regulated by the government here in the state of Pennsylvania. The liquor stores are all fun by the state. Beer isn't sold at liquor stores. You have to go to a beverage distributor for that, or go to a bar and pay almost as much for a 6-pack as a distributor charges for a case.
Supermarkets and convenience stores aren't allowed to sell alcohol, although they're starting to experiment with beer and wine sales in a select few. I guess they're slowly making their way into the 20th century. Never mind that it's now the 21st century.
Since the state owns all the liquor stores, if one store doesn't have what you're looking for, or you don't like the prices, there's no going to another store, because they're all the same. Worse yet, if you go across a state line and buy some and they catch you, they'll arrest you. So not only do they get to control the prices and selection, they effectively outlaw any competition. A lot of people don't know this isn't allowed. I didn't even know until back in '99 or so, when the paper ran an article about it. They actually had cops come to stores that were just across the state line waiting in the parking lots, sitting in the parking lot and watching for cars with PA plates, and then busting them when they went back into PA. Personally, if I was one of those store owners, I would have told those cops to go pound sand.
I guess I should be glad that crime in PA has all been eliminated, and that the cops have nothing better to do, and that we have so much money in the state budget that we can pay the cops to bust people for stupid shit like that. From what I understand, the state is doing this because they're losing out on money from the sales when people buy it somewhere else, so why don't they also go after people who buy gasoline, cigarettes, or anything else taxable across state lines. Oops, I better shut up before I start giving them ideas.
There have been several attempts over the past 30 years or so to get the state out of the liquor business, including a recent one that's currently going on. Every time it happens, MADD starts screaming about how it will increase underage drinking, some politicians scream about the loss in state revenue, and some people say it will actually increase prices and hurt selection. Others claim that we have no more incidents than other states that don't control liquor, some say that the state will make money selling off the stores and continue to make money from license fees and taxes, and some say that the prices and selection in other states is better.
In the past, this topic has come up on CS, back before we had the rule against controversial topics, and some supermarket employees from PA say they're glad that they don't have to deal with sucky drunks buying alcohol. I can understand that. I don't agree with it; I think the government should not be in the alcohol business; but I can understand it. At the very least, I think the state should not be allowed to arrest people for choosing to do business somewhere else, which is a choice that customers have in just about any other situation.
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