Privatize liquor in Washington

Attention students who are Washington residents: Be sure to vote yes on Propositions 1100 and 1105 this November. Both of these, according to local polls, are deadlocked on the ballot and will need every vote they can get.  

Proposition 1100 will privatize the sale and distribution of alcohol throughout Washington state, while 1105 will solidify uniform laws concerning licensing of liquor stores, taxation methods and regulation of liquor stores.

I see no reason why these two initiative should not be supported. This will mean less taxation on alcohol and through market competition, will gradually lower prices of alcohol products. Unlike the state monopoly, which has fixed prices that have been rising for years. It will mean less spending by the state government on liquor stores, which means that in the long run, it will actually provide more tax revenue for the state through basic excise sales tax. It will eventually increase employment, as supermarkets and grocery stores will naturally require more employees to sell alcohol. Finally, this option is less corrupt;,because stores that have illegal sales to minors and intoxicated individuals will have their liquor licenses removed and be fined for their actions, unlike state-owned stores. None of these  is a  regrettable trend.

Unfortunately, many special interest groups and organizations are against these motions for absurd reasons. One such claim is that privatizing liquor will increase drunk driving and DUIs.  This is completely preposterous, as there is absolutely no statistical evidence that this type of sales distribution of alcohol has any effect on when individuals choose to drive after drinking, which is really an "x" factor. If anything, it's the opposite; for example bars, which are privately owned, tend to do very well making sure their consumers do not drive home after drinking too much.

There is also a claim that privatizing alcohol will put smaller local alcohol businesses at a disadvantage to larger corporations out of state. This is simply a flat-out lie since the vast majority of manufacturers and breweries in Washington currently produce beers and wines, which are not labeled or considered hard liquor anyway.

Another ridiculous claim is that this will increase underage drinking. First, realize that across the nation, no matter what type of legal distribution exists, underage drinking is mostly in the form of smuggling to younger ages, which is usually outside the store itself (case in point: Logan Neighborhood). Critics rely on statistics that our state is ranked No.1 in keeping minors from accessing hard liquor, but do not take into account the amount of smuggling that happens outside of stores. Second, under Proposition 1105 the Liquor Control Board will focus on fining and removing licenses for sales to underage minors, which will increase discipline for stores on the risk of disobeying the law.

Of course, this problem could be solved at its root by lowering the drinking age, but due to the federal Transportation Department and a lack of reading the Constitution's 10th Amendment, it won't happen anytime soon. Nevertheless, be sure to vote yes on both these propositions come November. Cheers.