Thursday, January 20, 2011

A Friend of Vice is Friend of Mine

If Delegate Warren Miller has his way, you will soon be able to sample single malts in addition to beer and wine in HoCo. Under current HoCo requlations, sampling of liquor is prohibited in HoCo though it is allowed in AA Co, PG Co, and Baltimore. According to this story by Larry Carson in The Sun, Miller received the support of the HoCo delegation after agreeing to amend his bill “to reduce the total amount of alcohol that could be consumed from four ounces down to one ounce in quarter-ounce shots.”

The only legislator not on board with the booze bill was Liz Bobo.

"To me, there is a big step from tasting wine to tasting liquor with a higher alcohol content," she said, explaining her vote.”

Does Liz think that whiskey is some sort of gateway drug like say, marijuana?

She has already indicated that she is "pro pot" which she believes that “in her heart” should be decriminalized in the Free State.

Millers other vice initiative is a bill that would allow HoCo VFW posts to install up to five slot machines for the use of their members. Warren has pointed out that eight Eastern Shore counties already allow this but that’s no surprise.  Eastern Shore residents are still mad at Millard Tawes for banning slots in Maryland in the early sixties. According to this story by Stephen Janis in The Baltimore City Paper, the state took action against slots because citizens groups complained that they were "destroying the fabric of family and economic life..."

Times and attitudes change, in this case fueled by a thirst for more state revenue.

The HoCo delegation will roll the dice on veterans gambling when they reconvene next Wednesday.
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