Guest Editorial
If you reach the supermarket register at 11:30 a.m. this Sunday, you won’t be able to buy that six-pack you grabbed for the Lions game later in the day. Make your purchase at 12:01 p.m., and you’re fine.
It’s a result of Michigan’s clearly outdated alcohol and liquor laws, which are in for an overhaul. If Gov. Jennifer Granholm signs a bill as expected, Sunday morning beer and wine sales will be allowed. So will a few other changes that smack of common sense and can provide some benefit to Michigan’s economy.
Lifting the Sunday-morning restriction is the most notable change, but others are on the way. Alcohol sales will be allowed after noon on Christmas. Grocers and other retailers will be allowed to offer samples of beer and wine. Up to 20 retirement centers will qualify for liquor licenses.
The current restrictions on alcohol sales are not significant, in that Michigan residents still can get beer, wine and liquor fairly easily. But they are a nuisance.
Ask that Sunday-morning grocery shopper who has to return a bottle of wine to the shelf. Ask the Detroit Lions fans who gather at a restaurant in the late morning for the week’s big game. Or ask patrons of any resort in the state who can’t order a Mimosa on Sunday morning.
There are no estimates we could find on how much money in sales this legislation will generate, but it will have to have an impact. Businesses of various types will be able to sell products without the level of intrusion they now face.
More economic activity, even on a small level, has to help the economy and, of course, cash-strapped state government, which will get a cut of the action.
We are not blind to the damage that alcohol leaves behind in society.
Yet considering how available beer and wine are to the public — and that most people drink responsibly — we do not see the point in restrictions that have no measurable impact. Refusing to sell a bottle of wine on a Sunday morning will not keep an alcoholic clean and sober, but it will aggravate a customer who has a legitimate need.
If any community feels the need to restrict alcohol sales, it still has that power under this legislation. We would be surprised if there is any push to keep the limits in place.
Michigan’s alcohol laws date back to a different era, but they are not practical today. It’s about time the state is catching up.
— THE JACKSON CITIZEN PATRIOT