Ontario quietly moving ahead with plan to sell beer in corner stores
www.theglobeandmail.com
The Ontario Public Health Association warns the move could lead to more consumption and other harms

The Ontario Public Health Association … cites multiple studies showing that increases in the number of places where alcohol can be bought in Ontario, and in other jurisdictions, have already led to more consumption and more of the harms that come with it, such as suicides, drunk driving, emergency-room visits and higher rates of cancer.

I enjoy booze, but I like that it’s hard to get. I don’t need any more encouragement to mess up my liver.

  • n2burns
    3·
    1 year ago

    🙋

    I felt our old system before sales in grocery stores was a good balance of availability and control. I don’t drink much now, but I used to be a heavy drinker and didn’t have any issues. Even in rural areas, there’s often a “separate” Beer Store/LCBO attached to local convenience store. I’m not advocating for prohibition or anything, I just see this as making the system worse as I’ve already seen through grocery store sales. Also:

    • I’ve lived in ON(duh), QC, NS, MB, and AB and the provinces with centrally controlled liquor sales also had better selection. The LCBO is one of the world’s biggest alcohol purchasers and with less sales they could lose this purchasing power.

    • While some might say this is removing a government monopoly, I see it as (due to the limited selection) consolidating power behind the biggest brewers. You see very few small wineries or breweries in groceries stores and I suspect you’ll see even less microbreweries in convenience stores.

    • This feels like trading government revenue (which in turn pays for the healthcare needed due to alcohol use) and good paying jobs for private revenue and minimum wage jobs.

    • While not perfect, the employees at the Beer Store/LCBO seem well trained and usually do a pretty good job of handling drunks and underagers. I’ve seen less ideal handling of these situations in the limited time groceries stores have been able to sell.