Raleigh, NC – A study committee in North Carolina’s General Assembly is debating whether to make any changes to the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control system.
The state has a monopoly on wholesale and by the bottle sales of liquor. Local ABC boards contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to the state and local budgets. It also provides money for alcohol treatment and law enforcement. ABC officials across the state have been caught in scandals over pay and apparent graft by liquor companies.
Despite the scandals there is little public support for changing the system. Politicians at the local level want to protect their revenue stream, and alcohol treatment professionals fear an increase in abuse and crime related to drinking alcohol.
Other control states have studied whether to privatize their system and found a free market could actually provide more money to government coffers while still limiting the availability of liquor.