Deregulatory Kool-Aid
The New York Times declined to publish the following letter to the editor, in response to the op-ed piece “Wholesale Robbery in Liquor Sales,”
To The Editor:
David White’s call for deregulation of our alcohol control system (“Wholesale Robbery…,” 4/4) is telling for its comparison of direct shipping of alcohol to that for books and shoes. In truth, as the World Health Organization has stated, alcohol is “no ordinary commodity” and thus cannot be treated like a pair of Manolo Blahnik pumps or a Patricia Cornwell paperback. We are, after all, talking about the third leading root cause of death in the US and the leading preventable cause of birth defects and intellectual disabilities.
In fact, the three-tier system of alcohol distribution was put in place precisely because of this product’s special nature. But the powerful multinational corporations who dominate alcohol production (conveniently omitted from Mr. White’s narrative) and their retail allies will brook no limit on profits, and work feverishly to deregulate our alcohol control systems through litigation and lobbying.
We need to remember this before we drink Mr. White’s deregulation kool-aid.
Robert S. Pezzolesi, MPH
New York Center for Alcohol Policy Solutions
Complicating the picture is the 
fact that the Times is in the online wine business through the New York Times Wine Club.
