[WindMinstrel]

does anyone know how laws like this came about? It is from the end of Prohibition, or just political cronyism? I'm irked that I can't buy wines online because I live in CT. Doesn't quite make sense to me.

[balrog666]

does anyone know how laws like this came about? It is from the end of Prohibition, or just political cronyism? I'm irked that I can't buy wines online because I live in CT. Doesn't quite make sense to me.

I had the exact same reaction. Who benefits by such laws?

[steve50]

I thought the price of my Mad Dog 20/20 was way too high here in Ohio

[SamAdams76]

does anyone know how laws like this came about? It is from the end of Prohibition, or just political cronyism? I'm irked that I can't buy wines online because I live in CT. Doesn't quite make sense to me.

It's brutal out there if you are a wine-lover. I would probably be much more into wine myself if it wasn't so difficult to get fine wine at a reasonable price. But the hodge-podge of various laws and regulations out there make it difficult for all but the very rich to build a decent wine cellar.

In order to understand how all of this took place, you need to understand that Prohibition was never really repealed in this country. When the Eighteenth Amendment was overturned in 1933 (or was it 1932?) by the Twenty-first Amendment, it only affected federal statutes regarding the sale, manufacture and transportation of alcoholic beverages. States and counties were still free to set their own laws.

Most of these states and counties, rather than repealing their Prohibition laws outright (or keeping them in place), used it as an opportunity to tightly control the sale of alcoholic beverages (and maximizing their tax revenues) by erecting a complex set of laws and regulations that make it all but impossible for private business owners to get in the business without paying extravagant licensing fees. All under the guise of "public safety", of course.

[eno_]

Beer distributorships are also a cesspool of political favoritism and race politics (Yo! Roscoe! You listenin?). As I enjoy pointing out to the Drug Warriors, the corruption in the alchohol business comes from the remaining bluenose laws that are supposed to protect us from demon rum's bad influences. Simply decriminalzing pot without a regulatory framework is likely to work best, and beer and wine laws could be minimized further, all to the benefit of society. This issue just happens to put a value to that benefit.