Am I the only one that finds the trends of the state deciding to make money off things that some find inappropriate incongruous? From what I understand the reason Utah has “state owned” liquor stores is because people in Utah have a more prohibition oriented view than average, and this was a way to control it…but also didn’t hurt that the state got to make money off it. All over the US states are authorizing more and more casinos to make money off of something so dangerous that every ad has to come with a warning.

I get the point of this post—its a good illustration with how government doesn’t rightly function as an accurate calculator of supply and demand (obviously the reason those drinks sold so well was both a function of their price, which is basic value pricing economics, as well as their availability which probably partially motivated the move to the state-owned stores and probably wasn’t just an income thing). Honestly I think its sad that people might not have bought them from the state-owned stores that would have bought them from grocery stores. I am highly uncomfortable with hypocrites.

Hi Chris…long break on my part, but it was time that I needed to add a diversion/outlet/pursuit of my interests.

Hey Netwiz. Welcome back! I hope you are all settled in now.

No, you are not alone in that observation. My dad ranted for a short while after the first time that I heard about the tobacco tax. I had thought it was a good idea because, you know, tobacco is bad for you. His point was that if it is legal then it should not be singled out for that kind of penalty. He’s right. The money is not even being used to offset the cost of cleanup for cigarette butts.

The difference between supermarkets and state-owned stores will control availability and, as you saw, pricing. Utah has specifically chosen this course. You can read it on the state website:

The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control operates 36 state stores and approximately 80 package agencies. By state statute, the total number of stores is to to the state population, one store permitted for every 48,000 citizens.

Liquor sales provide a major source of income to the state’s general fund relieving taxpayers of a significant tax burden each year.

They are trying to fund things that are not directly related to the item in use.