Wine With Dinner
Being back in Minnesota, it has been our recent annoyance to have to make separate trips to a liquor store to buy beer and wine, rather than being able to buy them when grocery shopping, as we were accustomed in California.
A bill called Wine With Dinner, which would allow wine sales in grocery stores, will apparently come up for consideration in the Minnesota legislature this year.
For unbiased background, check out the Office of the Legislative Auditor's report on liquor regulation. They summarize that "[r]emoving state restrictions on competition in the liquor industry would lower prices and improve convenience, but some adverse impacts are also possible." The grocery lobby's more biased take can be found at winewithdinner.com, where you can also e-mail your legislators via handy-dandy web form.
Comments
Hah. In Ohio, they sell liquor in grocery stores, but you can't buy it on Sunday morning (some places are allowed to sell after 12:00pm, but for most of them it's easier/cheaper to not sell at all on Sunday).
This just completely boggles my mind. If it's objectionable to buy alcohol on Sunday morning, then why is it suddenly okay every other time/day? And do they seriously think that hardcore drinkers are going to be completely foiled by blocking out that 12-hour window? Or perhaps I should take a closer look at my own mental faculties, which are unable to conceive of maybe shopping on a day other than Sunday?