Saturday, February 25, 2012

Imbibing in Utah

Utah considers requiring that at least two members of the commission in charge of regulating alcohol sales in the state have (imagine!) actually consumed some alcohol, and not just in their wild youth.

Key bit:
Utah’s liquor regulations are among the strictest in the nation, with state-owned retail stores and tight rules in bars. And as the Control Commission’s Web site makes clear, that is not about to change soon, no matter who sits, or sips, on the board.
“The purpose of control is to make liquor available to those adults who choose to drink responsibly — but not to promote the sale,” the site says. Mr. Doughty said in an interview that the language in his bill about drinking for at least a year was meant to guarantee that the commission gets a real, current perspective on how alcohol is sold and used in the state, and weed out applicants who might have had a wild, one-time fling long ago.
“I didn’t want someone to be able to say, ‘I had glass of wine or a beer 10 years ago, and that makes me a consumer of alcohol,’ ” he said.
For foreign readers, it helps to know that a large majority of Utah residents are latter-day saints, and so do not drink.

I think this idea of having regulators be familiar with the things they regulate is an excellent one, and suggest requiring some actual pot-users in high level positions at the Drug Enforcement Agency. It certainly couldn't make that agency any worse and, at least, they might chill out a bit.

Hat tip: Ken Troske

1 comment:

Maggie McNeill said...

I can guarantee you that if retired prostitutes were in charge of regulating prostitution, the laws would be very different, the tax departments would be happier and a lot fewer women would get hurt, raped or exploited by bad cops, bad employers or bad customers.