Vestal: Liquor Privatization Has Bugs

Private booze just had its first birthday. How’s this baby doing? As might have been expected: Predictions of falling prices have not come true, on average. Predictions of dire public safety problems have not come true, either. We’re buying more booze, we’re buying it from a much larger variety of sellers, and the state is a little richer with booze taxes than it used to be. Restaurants and bars, meanwhile, have cut back on liquor purchases from distributors, and the big-box stores are killing the little guys. The kinks aren’t all worked out. Distributors, retailers and restaurateurs are still wrestling through the system and, sometimes, blaming each other for this problem or that problem/ Shawn Vestal , SR. More here.

Question: Do you want to see Idaho jump on liquor privatization bandwagon — or wait to see how Washington works out bugs?