DUI arrests decrease after state monopoly on liquor sales ends

Before Washington got out of the liquor business in June of 2012, emotional campaigns urged voters to reject the initiative allowing grocery stores and private businesses to sell hard alcohol.

"Alcohol kills more children than any other drug. I know first-hand because a drunk driver killed my son Trevor," Linda Thompson said in commercial against Initiative 1183.

Other ads took what seemed like a more factual approach.

"Problem drinking could increase as much as 48 percent," said Mark Nelson, the Cowlitz County Sheriff in another TV commercial.

A new analysis from the Washington Policy Center finds those public safety fears about ending the state’s nearly 80 year liquor monopoly didn’t materialize.

The think tank, for the record, supported getting the state out of the liquor business for many years.

Full Story: http://mynorthwest.com/646/2315370/DUI-arrests-decrease-after-state-monopoly-on-liquor-sales-ends