North Carolina’s liquor control system is a relic of a bygone era. The State’s monopoly on liquor sales began in 1937, and yet 74 years later Gov. Bev Perdue is still fighting to keep the old-time system alive.
It is time for North Carolina to get out of the alcohol business. But in the face of renewed discussion of privatization, Perdue has announced that she wants the state to be the only game in town.
Total state control of liquor might have made sense in a time when United States was still transitioning from secret speakeasies that filled criminals’ coffers to a society where alcohol was legally available.
But now the system we have really is a dinosaur: big, dumb, and a dying breed. It includes 168 ABC boards that have seen multiple scandals in the last several years, and operates in one of the few states that still maintains a monopoly on liquor sales.
Perdue questioned whether or not the state would make enough money for a sale of the system to be worthwhile.
But she also expressed her concern for “the children.”
In her own words: “I don’t want to be the governor who has to hold my granddaughter’s hand as we walk past the liquor bottles on our way to the toy aisle in Walmart.”
Weighing the financial implications of privatization makes sense, but Perdue’s emotional “for the good of the children” appeal is an insult to our intelligence.
If having liquor at the grocery store is really that bad, why doesn’t Perdue begin an aggressive campaign to become the only supplier of beer and wine as well? Why are Budweiser, Andre, and Franzia OK, but Smirnoff, Bacardi, and Firefly dangerous?
