Minibottle menace

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Only a few days remain of the legislative session but there's time for lawmakers to approve a bill that would likely get rid of minibottles in bars and restaurants.

House lawmakers should approve the bill, which would place a referendum on the November ballot.

We remain the only state in the nation that requires bartenders to use minibottles — similar to those found on airplanes — rather than larger bottles. That gives this Bible belt state the strongest drinks in the nation.

Minibottles contain 1.7 ounces of liquor. Drinks that require more than one liquor will be even more intoxicating. In every other state in the nation, however, bartenders pour from larger bottles. Those drinks generally contain 1 ounce to 1.25 ounces of alcohol.

It's not hard to detect a connection between South Carolina's potent mixed drinks and our state's high rate — the worst in the nation — of drunken-driving deaths. Minibottles certainly are not the only cause of alcohol-related fatalities on our roads, but they contribute to highway deaths. For that reason, they need to go.