Del. Wine Store Is Against Speakeasies

The Inquirer today has a story about Pennsylvania residents illegally crossing into New Jersey and Delaware to buy liquor. Because of the tax still levied on alcohol from the 1936 Johnstown flood — which the state is apparently still devastated from — alcohol is much more expensive in the Keystone State than elsewhere.

Technically, it’s illegal to buy liquor in a neighboring state and bring it back into Pennsylvania. But how likely are you to be caught? Well, only 11 people were cited in Pennsylvania last year for illegally importing alcohol.

The manager of Total Wine and More, in Delaware, says he’s just making a living. But, hey, he doesn’t sell to Al Capone and his cronies!

“We don’t knowingly sell to speakeasies and restaurants because we don’t condone that at all,” Grunes said.

The state won’t ever repeal the law because it brings in a million billion dollars a year, which the state legislators then spend on themselves.

Crossing the border with booze not exactly a high-profile crime [Inquirer]
[Image of L.C. Bee]