• From United Press InternationalHARRISBURG, PA -- Pennsylvania is testing the sale of wine at supermarket kiosks and a state lawmaker is pushing legislation to auction off of 750 liquor licenses.
Under the plan unveiled by state Rep. Mike Turzai, R-Bradford Woods, the wholesale and retail operation of the liquor control board would be privatized and auctioning of the liquor licenses to grocery stores would bring in an estimated $2 billion to state coffers, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Two Harrisburg-area supermarkets have begun selling wine at kiosks under a Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board pilot program.
Under the trial process, customers insert their driver's license into a slot to show they're of drinking age while a board official at an office in Harrisburg verifies they're the same persons pictured on the licenses, the newspaper said.
Then the customers blow into a Breathalyzer to ensure their blood-alcohol level is below 0.02.
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1 comment:
How idiotic is our system in Pennsylvania? Somehow, in Virginia, you can walk into an ordinary supermarket and buy wine and there isn't anarchy in the streets. The state store system and its analogs, like the kiosk, both limit choice for the consumer and cost the state money unnecessarily (really? someone has to sit in Harrisburg and monitor everyone's face at all kiosks?? What happens when there are hundreds or thousands of kiosks?). And aside from this, there is an obvious conflict of interest for the state in limiting alcohol sales or passing regulations when it is also in the business of retail wine and liquor sales itself.
We need to allow food retailers to sell alcohol and just tax it, not to have government employees selling alcohol.
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