Two Articles

Two interesting articles I came across recently.

1) From Reuters: StatoilHydro Fights Lithuanian Alcohol Ban. Norwegian gasoline company fighting Lithuanian ban on night sales of alcohol at gas stations. Lithuania (like most of the former Soviet bloc countries) has serious problems with alcoholism. We're talking 14 liters pure ethanol per capita annually (the U.S. is closer to 9 liters). Banning night sales at gas stations has apparently dropped alcohol related accidents by 45%. But the company, majority owned by the Norwegian government, is pressing to have the ban revoked, alleging that not all of its competitors are complying (probably true). But still kind of funny, because Norway has some of the most restrictive alcohol laws in the world. You can't even buy alcohol at gas stations in Norway.

2) From the BBC: Alcohol Link to one in 25 Deaths. That's worldwide. It's 1 in 10 in Europe, and 1 in 7 in Russia...

BBC: Young Finns Debate Finland's Alcohol Laws

Saw this clip on the BBC News this morning. What is most interesting is how these students appear to intuitively grasp the reasons for many aspects of alcohol regulation that were incorporated in the post-prohibition three-tier system in the U.S., (particularly in monopoly states). So for example they talk about how it's good that discount pricing is prohibited, and how they see taxes impacting consumption. Finally, related to the Blue Laws post of a few days back, that perhaps there are reasons people shouldn't be able to buy one Euro 9% ABV Baltic Porters at 6AM on a Sunday...