Drinks too strong

e-mail this story discuss this issue in our forums

South Carolina voters in a referendum last November urged the Legislature to get rid of minibottles. Voters know the small liquor containers contribute to this state's high rate of drunken-driving deaths. Minibottles had to go.

State lawmakers are now writing specific regulations that will ensure the state doesn't suffer a revenue loss with the change to larger bottles. Bars and restaurants can still use the minibottles but are almost certain to opt for the larger bottles.

Right now, South Carolina is the only state that still requires bars and restaurants to use minibottles — the bottle often used on airplanes — when serving liquor. With the minibottle, this Bible-belt state has the strongest drinks in the nation. Bartenders generally empty the full contents of a minibottle into a mixed drink. As a result, the beverage contains 1.7 ounces of liquor. 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. That means drinks here are about 50 percent stronger than cocktails in other states.

It's not hard to detect a connection between South Carolina's potent mixed drinks and our state's high rate — among the worst in the nation — of drunken-driving deaths.

Getting rid of minibottles, of course, won't solve the drunken-driving problem. A better funded Highway Patrol would go much further toward reducing drunken driving. But minibottles do contribute to our state's high rate of drunken-driving fatalities. The cute little bottles won't be missed.