"If you want to drink, you have to buy it from us!"

[Nyoibo]

I dont think you guys appreciate how good you do have it, here all liquor stores are privately owned and you can only buy alcohol there, even beer and wine and beer will cost in average for a case of 24 around $50+ a standard 700ml bottle of Smirnoff costs $30-$35

[fireheart17]

I dont think you guys appreciate how good you do have it, here all liquor stores are privately owned and you can only buy alcohol there, even beer and wine and beer will cost in average for a case of 24 around $50+ a standard 700ml bottle of Smirnoff costs $30-$35

I should elaborate on this: wineries can also operate cellar door sales and the like as well, so if you want that bottle of Penfolds Grange, you can get it straight from the cellar.
Microbreweries can also sell beer freely.

The only places that cannot sell alcohol products (that is, those intended for consumption) are supermarkets and most retail outlets and certain stores in "restricted" zones. These areas usually have a high Aboriginal population and have different safeguards to combat excessive drinking in that area (they're also remote).

[protege]

Did you say Pennsylvania, or ONTARIO?

Hehe both Mike and I are in Pennsylvania. But, we seem to be bouncing between our laws an Canada's

[wolfie]

Did you say Pennsylvania, or ONTARIO?

Big difference between PA and ON. In ON, if you want a variety of booze that's not sold locally, it's perfectly legal to nip across the border, buy it, declare it coming back, and pay the duty and taxes (theoretically if you go to PQ or MB you have to pay the taxes - no duty since it's in-country - and make the contact with the appropriate authority yourself). From what I've read, in PA it's illegal to bring in out-of-state booze (no option to pay the tax that the state would have received from selling it locally), so you're stuck with the selection that's available locally.

I wouldn't be surprised if the PA authorities charged listing fees - i.e. "Youse guys wanna sell your hooch here? Ya gotta pay us for the privilege". If anyone other than the government were doing it, it would be a matter for RICO.

[Panacea]

Welcome to a Utahn's world. We pay nearly a 100% markup, get weaker liquor than less regulated states, and to add insult to injury, the state is closing something like 10% of the stores (all of which are profitable) to save money, and to make the Mormons in legislature feel like they are doing God's work to reduce the evils of alcohol in this state

They shouldn't have to pass laws to regulate alcohol. If all them Mormons were doing their religion right, they'd stay right with Gawd and not drink that likker or Joe <said in strong fake Southern accent>

Good ole Christian blue laws. They don't want Sharia Law, but they do want their own religion to be law.

Well, to be fair, look into the history of the Temperance Movement. Yes, there was a strong religious factor but there were good reasons for it. Alcohol abuse was rampant, guns were often involved, and alcohol was a tremendous social problem. Prohibition was thought to be the only way to fix it . . . which turned out to be very wrong. But the decision to repeal Prohibition was controversial and giving states control over alcohol sales was seen as the next best solution to try and keep things from going too far the other direction.

We have state controlled alcohol stores here: ABC stores (Alcoholic Beverage Control) in North Carolina. When I first moved here from California in 2005, you had to buy hard liquor in an ABC store (still do), wine from a wine store, and beer you could get in the grocery stores and C stores. There wasn't much selection.

Things have loosened up since then: you can get a wide range of wines in groceries and some C stores now, and much better selections of beers, ciders, and hard lemonade. We have quite a few microbreweries popping up; there's a controversy going on right now because a very wealthy microbrewery owner can't sell his own beer in his own restaurants, and he's fighting it.

And wouldn't you know, our GOP controlled Legislature that is all about small government hasn't been in a big hurry to abolish the ABC stores in spite of a series of scandals involving the state appointed managers and alcohol distributors. They're afraid of losing the income, and "raising taxes." So much for their free market philosophy.

[protege]

And wouldn't you know, our GOP controlled Legislature that is all about small government hasn't been in a big hurry to abolish the ABC stores in spite of a series of scandals involving the state appointed managers and alcohol distributors. They're afraid of losing the income, and "raising taxes." So much for their free market philosophy.

Similar situation here in PA. But, it's not the GOP that's holding things up. No, it's the labor union (which are usually backed by the Democrats), the lobbying by the beer distributors (who are claiming "unfair competition"), and some people bitching about the potential loss of tax revenue.

I'd love to see the state's liquor monopoly dissolved. Their stores are the only place you can get wine and spirits, and it's usually massively overpriced. Getting rid of those stores would allow for greater variety and possibly bring prices down.

As for the beer distributors, I can't feel sorry for them. They've had a monopoly on beer sales since the 1930s, and have been free to charge whatever they can get away with. Again, more shops would mean greater variety and prices would come down. They're pissed because they'd have to compete fairly and would no longer get their same profit margins.