Free-pour, minibottles may co-exist

BOB BESTLER

It's been a lot like pulling teeth out of a bobcat's mouth, but it appears that South Carolina will finally get the chance to vote on minibottles.

After years of General Assembly foot-dragging, the House recently passed a bill - the so-called free-pour bill - permitting a November referendum; the Senate is expected to act soon.

As written, both bills offer liquor-serving establishments the option of staying with minibottles or going to free-pour. It's an important feature that ought to make the bill palatable to those who don't want a change.

Tom Sponseller, president of the S.C. Hospitality Association in Columbia and a longtime advocate of getting rid of minibottles, likes the option.

"I think that's the way it ought to be," he said the other day. "Some smaller businesses want to keep minibottles because it helps them track their inventory. Some want them because that's what their customers are used to."

Some bars may even use minibottles as a marketing tool, he said.

At the same time, the bill lets bars and restaurants, for the first time, join the rest of the free world in how they serve liquor.

It means customers can get a cocktail that uses more than one kind of liquor without paying double.

Because minibottles hold 1.7 ounces versus the standard 1.25-ounce drink, it also should aid moderation - a key reason Mothers Against Drunk Driving, highway safety groups and even Baptists support the change.

In 2002, South Carolina had the greatest increase in the nation in alcohol-related deaths.

The state was second, behind Montana, in alcohol-related deaths per miles traveled. Fully 52 percent of all S.C. highway deaths that year were alcohol-related.

In that same year - the most recent for which figures are available - Horry County led the state in alcohol-related highway deaths with 28.

Because South Carolina is the only state in the nation with minibottles - and Horry County is the top tourism spot in South Carolina - is it not reasonable to see a connection?

"I can't say that minibottles are responsible for those rates," Sponseller said. "Just the same, I can't help but believe that people who come here from out of state are used to smaller amounts of liquor in their drink. If they are used to having three drinks, that would average 3.7 ounces of liquor back home. Here, it means 5.1 ounces.

"That's like having a fourth drink without knowing it."

Need we say more?