I am tracking the results of the recent Washington State elections. Initiative 1183 was about privatizing hard liquor sales. Washington State is one of the few hold-outs in the USA where hard liquor can only be sold by state-owned stores or a limited number of state-approved contractors. But at this point it looks like a done deal : the voters are giving the State the boot from the liquor sales business. So from June 1 next year Costco*, Walmart and grocery stores can sell Johnny Walker whiskey and Absolut vodka. I voted for the initiative after some hesitation : the State needs all the money it can get, and is it really necessary to be able to go buy booze at 2 am at the grocery store? (Maybe that’s a yes – we need something to cheer us up from the down economy?)
*Costco is a giant discount grocery store and donated $22 million to the Yes on 1183 campaign (‘only’ $18 million was spent), the most spent on a Washington State initiative ever.
Initiative 1183 – Liquor Privatization
Nov 09, 2011 – 18:24:33
| x-APPROVE | 777,232 | 59% |
| REJECT | 530,614 | 41% |
What’s the situation in China? Well, baijiu (Chinese: 白酒 or ‘white liquor’) is a very popular Chinese distilled alcoholic beverage. Maotai is the most famous of the brands and is freely available everywhere in grocery stores – and frighteningly cheap for a spirit that has 40% to 60% alcohol by volume.
