In our future? One-stop shopping for wine and pot

Raise a glass, Pennsylvania.

No, unfortunately, we are not toasting the demise of our hated state stores. Oh, excuse us, that would be “Fine Wine and Good Spirits Stores.”

You know, the places where you can buy a bottle of wine or booze, but not a beer.

Yes, the Keystone State continues to wander in the Dark Ages when it comes to the sale of alcohol.

Oh, sure, they’ve made some cosmetic changes in recent years. You can now actually buy wine or beer in many supermarkets. But not liquor. Of course, you can’t simply grab a six-pack, put it in your cart and pay for it with the rest of your groceries. That would actually be convenient.

This is Pennsylvania, after all.

No, you have to visit a separate part of the store and pay for your purchase there. And you are limited to two six-packs of beer.

Oh, you wanted to buy a case? That means still another trip, to your favorite beer distributor. You can even buy a six-pack there. Wonders never cease. Even some convenience stores such as Wawa, Sheetz and Turkey Hill are dipping their toe in the beer market. But they have to rearrange their stores and create seating for people to eat in the store to qualify for these restaurant licenses.

When’s the last time you actually sat down and ate in a Wawa? A shorti and a Chardonnay? We don’t think so.

No, the state stores aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

But they are changing, and they will change even more if a Delaware County state representative has his way amid the i

The drumbeat is getting louder for legalizing recreational use of pot by adults. An overwhelming majority of Pennsylvanians support legalization, probably as much to get these minor offenses out of our clogged court system, where they inevitably take a heavier toll on minorities and people of color, both in terms of arrests and sentences.

Gov. Tom Wolf, who previously resisted calls for legalization, has asked the Legislature to do several things.

He wants legislation to decriminalize marijuana; to expunge the criminal records of those charged with small amounts of pot in the past, and finally, to at least consider legalizing recreational use of marijuana by adults.

Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17, who represents parts of Delaware and Montgomery counties, was only too willing to pick up the ball.

This week the Main Line pol and several co-sponsors introduced a bill that would legalize marijuana use for adults 21 and over.

But it was legislation proposed by Delco state Rep. Dave Delloso, R-162 of Ridley, a couple of weeks ago that really caught our attention.

This is where the state stores enter the picture.

Delloso’s bill not only would get Pennsylvania out of the enforcement business, but into the business of legalized marijuana sales. He wants the state to handle sales through its more than 600 state-owned liquor stores.

The push would add Pennsylvania to the list of 11 states and the District of Columbia that have legalized cannabis for adults.

But it would be the first to handle sales through stateowned facilities.

Delloso believes such a plan would create a $581 million windfall for the state’s coffers, while at the same time preserving all those state store jobs and creating thousands of new ones.

Add that to the current revenue of more than $2 billion from the state store operations and you have an economic powerhouse.

And Delloso is appealing to citizens by promising much of that revenue could be used to target public enemy No. 1 in Pennsylvania: the staggering property taxes that form an albatross around the neck of so many senior citizens and those on fixed incomes. Delloso wants the money used for property tax relief and education funding.

Now it’s all in the hands of the Legislature. They have failed repeatedly despite numerous attempts in recent years to get the state out of the booze business.

Will they take the leap and put Pa. in the pot business?

In Harrisburg, money talks. Keep an eye on this one.

We’ll raise a glass, or maybe a joint, to a new era in Pennsylvania.