That plot to get Pa. out of booze biz going up in smoke?
Well, this is certainly going to complicate my one-man mission to get Pennsylvania out of the booze business.
My stance is not a secret. For years I have told anyone who would listen of my delight in visiting other states where you can stroll your local supermarket, put a six-pack or case of beer, or perhaps a bottle of wine, into your cart along with the rest of your groceries and pay for them all at the checkout counter.
Or perhaps duck into your local convenience store on the ride home and grab a cold six.
Pennsylvania is being dragged of course much slower than most would like - out of the dark ages when it comes to the sale of alcohol.
You can now buy beer and wine in the supermarket. Of course, you have to visit a separate part of the store and you have to pay for it there. That’s the Keystone State’s idea of convenience.
And some convenience stores are starting to dabble in the sale of beer. Wawa recently picked up another license, which is expected to wind up at the new store they are building on Baltimore Pike at the Upper Darby-Clifton Heights border.
Of course, you can only buy two six-packs there. If you want a case, that means another trip, to your local beer distributor.
If you’re in the market for gin, vodka or maybe some bourbon, forget the convenience store - and the supermarket. In fact forget the convenience altogether. For that you have to visit your local “Fine Wine and Spirits” store. Yes, those places we used to call state stores. Whoever came up with their new, gussied up name certainly has a sense of humor.
Yes, you can buy wine there. And spirits. But not beer. And you’ll pay prices usually higher than can be found just over the state line in Delaware or over in New Jersey. And a selection that can’t touch places like Total Wine. But you can’t buy beer there. Are you following all this? Do you think maybe it might have dawned on someone at the state level that it might be a good idea to allow consumers to buy all these products in one place, in one stop, with a huge selection and great prices?
Dream on, folks. I know, it’s enough to drive a person to drink.
My point is simple. Yes, I like a beer or glass of wine as much as the next person. But my real point is I don’t think the state should be in the booze business - and I’d like nothing more than to see the whole system blown up and turned over to private enterprise.
Can you imagine the convenience of a Total Wine where you could buy beer, wine and liquor in one spot? It’s only a dream in Pennsylvania, despite my volunteering to push the plunger and blow this system up.
Now there’s a new wrinkle and it does not bode well for my plan.
There is an increasing push to legalize the use of recreational marijuana by adults. Lt. Gov. John Fetterman recently completed a tour of the state - he actually visited all 67 counties - and found overwhelming support for legalization of weed. He’s managed to bring Gov. Tom Wolf, who previously resisted calls for legalization of pot, on board.
The state currently allows for growing and sales of medical marijuana - achieved only after long, tedious work in Harrisburg.
Of course, there is another issue that is always in the background of anything that happens in the state Capitol.
Money. And now a Delco state rep is linking the push for legalizing cannabis to revenue.
Rep. Dave Delloso, D-162 of Ridley, not only wants to legalize recreational pot for adults, he wants to put it in the state stores. That would mean the state controlling the sale of pot much the same way it now controls the booze biz in the state.
Delloso and other pols who have signed on to the plan think it could raise $600 million in new revenue for the state, as well as supporting 18,000 new jobs.
He wants to use the bulk of the revenue for education.
Delloso relates the story of knocking on doors in his campaign for the Legislature and hearing the same two stories again and again: Young parents complaining about the lack of adequate funding for their local school district, and older residents complaining about skyrocketing property taxes, the basic building block of education funding in Pennsylvania.
Delloso’s plan would literally kill two birds with one stone in putting Pennsylvania in the pot business.
Kind of hard to argue with that.
But it means my dream of seeing Pennsylvania get out of the booze business is not going to happen anytime soon.
Where have you gone, Ron Raymond?