Privatizing alcohol sales comes with ‘grave realities’

The current one-sided debate over the North Carolina Alcohol Control system is dangerous. We cannot allow hasty decisions to be made that jeapordize the health and safety of N.C. families.

In 2011 the CDC convened health experts to rate alcohol policies and their efficacy to prevent alcohol-related harm, such as underage drinking and adult binge drinking. The state alcohol control-model of regulation, like the one utilized in N.C., quickly rose to the top of the list of most effective policies reviewed.

North Carolina is not unique, there are 15 states with a similar form of alcohol regulatory oversight. There is simply no debate – states that control the sale of alcohol have fewer alcohol-related harms, including youth access to alcohol, excessive drinking and drinking and driving.

We only have to look to Washington state to understand the grave realities of privatization. Following the privatization of its liquor sales system in 2011, not only did the price of liquor increase significantly but the number of outlets selling liquor more than quadrupled. A liquor store on every block – we have to ask ourselves, is this the type of community we want to hand off to our next generation?

We should embrace our citizen-owned system and the inherent protections it affords all North Carolinians – the young, the poor, the old, the abstainers, the drinkers, the wealthy – instead of the few who stand to profit from private sales on the backs, and often at the expense, of all.

‘Need to know’

Regarding “After Brennan, 9 others face losing security clearances, too” (Aug. 15): In the submarine force I held a clearance level of TOP SECRET SENSITIVE COMPARTMENTED INFORMATION and was read into additional compartments depending on the requirements of my assigned duties. In all cases this privilege was base on the term “need to know” – no need to know; no clearance.

For example, I started my submarine service as a nuclear engineer and stood my watches in the engineering spaces. If I went into the control room I could not be around the ECM stack or any of the plots. Nor could I go into radio. I had no need to know to operate the propulsion plant.

When I transferred I was read out of all programs unless required at the next command. At retirement my clearance ended and I signed nondisclosure understandings.

Brennan and the other Obama whining holdovers out of government service do not deserve a clearance based on need to know alone. Violate security rules, as they have, and their clearances are deservedly revoked.

‘Fig leaf’

I went to the division of motor vehicles yesterday to obtain a Real ID as required by a federal law passed by the Bush administration back in 2005 that requires a special ID by Oct. 2020.

Even though I presented my birth certificate, driver’s license, passport, Medicare card and two utility bills to prove where I live – I was turned away because I did not have my original Social Security card with me. Even after pointing out that the number on the Medicare card is the same as on the social security card, I was still turned away.

This law, passed by a Republican Congress and signed into law by a Republican president promises, at the very least, to enormously inconvenience millions of Americans and potentially dramatically undermine the number of potential voters in the 2020 election – should voter ID become the law of the land.

Millions who have not by that time obtained the Real ID and might be denied their right to vote. This would disproportionately affect minorities and people of color. This law is a potential voter-suppression law wearing the fig leaf of anti-terrorism effort. How many people have their birth certificates, passports and Social Security cards readily available? Not many.

‘Truth matters’

Regarding “President Trump, end your war on our free press” (Aug. 16): Our free press is not “the enemy of the people.” Our free press is the people: Our friends, neighbors and relatives whose job it is to gather the facts and to present those facts in an objective and professional manner.

Facts matter. Truth matters. Being able to speak your mind without suffering negative consequences matters. A free press and freedom of speech are essential to our democracy and are guaranteed by our Constitution.

We must remind ourselves of that every single day. We must not be numbed into passive acquiescence by the unceasing proclamations of “fake news” that are President Trump’s unthinking response to hearing or reading anything that criticizes him.