Visiting the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Store in North Carolina is the final challenge in the “21-Year Old Gauntlet” – the list of naughty things to do by the age of 21 that many college students in North Carolina attempt to complete. Other notches include visiting a strip club, buying a pack of cigarettes, and shooting a gun. However, few know what the ABC Stores’ principles are or where the profits go.

“I’m just about to get ****-up tonight,” junior William Saunders claimed, as he confidently slapped his ID on the counter. “It’s about time.”

While a “shockingly” small number of 21-year-olds (78 percent, according to the National Institutes of Health) have consumed liquor-based drinks before the legal age of 21, few legal drinkers know why the store is called “ABC” or what its purpose is.

“Alcohol Beverage Company? I don’t really know, we just call them package stores up north,” Bret Jones, a junior business major said.

ABC Store patrons may have noticed the posters located near exits, breaking down where ABC profits come from and go to. The poster, located in ABC Stores as well as the local ABC Web site, meckabc.com, explains how the county and state benefit from the sales.

N.C. state laws established ABC Boards in 1948. Each county, after deciding whether or not it will be “dry,” forms its own board, independent from other boards. Each board is self-contained and only receives funding from its sales. All ABC Stores throughout the state adhere strictly to these laws, which include hours of operation, quarterly prices, and rules delineating what individual boards may do with profits.

ABC laws state that before distribution costs, 7 percent of profits must go to alcohol education programs. Mecklenburg County’s five-member ABC Board, appointed by the county commission to two-year terms, spends $500,000 of its $2.38 million alcohol education funds on grants to local non-profit organizations designed to prevent or treat substance abuse. The maximum amount for each grant is $25,000.

“The grant selection process is thorough and based on need, and recipients must adhere to strict contracts,” ABC Director of Alcohol Education Mary Ward said. “They report to the Board regularly.” The Board monitors use of the grants and rescinds the funds if recipients fail to stick to their contracts. However, the programs rarely fail, and the Board recouped funds in only a small number of instances throughout its history.

The Board dedicates the remainder of the education funds to Anuvia, a nonprofit chemical dependency treatment facility under contract with the county. Anuvia diagnoses and treats substance abuse, assists “dual-diagnoses” (mental health issues compounded by substance abuse), and offers outpatient treatment and prevention.

 State law also stipulates that 5 percent of profits before distribution, $1.7 million from last year, must be dedicated to alcohol law enforcement.

“We have 13 officers tasked by the county for training, preventing underage drinking, and monitoring over 3,000 locations in Mecklenburg that sell alcoholic beverages,” Ward said. Those officers operate independently from other law enforcement agencies, including the Alcohol Law Enforcement division, and receive no funding beyond what the ABC Board allots.

ABC laws have remained largely unchanged since their creation in 1948, and require state legislation in order to be altered – which explains why the store is closed on Sunday, the busiest shopping day of the week. “We don’t have the ability to change those laws,” said Ward. State legislators have seen no reason to alter the blue law.

“But we exist for a reason. We realize that people have shopped in other markets, but because of state regulation, we can control the prices and give back to the community,” Ward said, explaining that 11 percent of the profits go to Charlotte-Mecklenburg libraries.

“We’re doing the best we can to serve. It’s our goal to provide shoppers with fair prices as well as a safe, clean shopping environment for our area.”

3 comments

Anonymous

Tue Feb 23 2010 18:19

wow what a site

david

Sat Jun 6 2009 10:32

because it's so easy to craft fake ID cards these days, the abc store workers are trained thoroughly in how to detect them. however, any usa government issued ID works, as well as passports.

the reason is liability. they will lose their jobs if they accept your ID and you turn out to be an ALE agent sent in to test them. the better question to ask here is, why did you not present your passport? its an accepted form of ID. im not familiar with canadian-american border crossing policies, but it would seem unwise to be in any foreign country without a passport.

so to answer your question, no, millions of tourists are not turned down, because they have the foresight to bring their passports with them. and also, i was turned down when i was attempting to buy a gun because i had moved since receiving my drivers' license and my addresses didn't match up.

so apparently, you're not very good at america. you don't seem to get concepts such as thoroughness or thinking before you commit your thoughts to the world wide web. obviously, your visit here was terrible and we apologize. in the future, you may wish to not come back, but if you do, try bringing your passport.

Byron Heath

Sat May 2 2009 17:27

I am a 43 year old tourist from Canada here for the Golf Tournament and was turned down at a local store in Huntersville because I am told only American ID is accepted. How do you think I got into the country, so my ID is good for crossing the boarder but not to by liquor. I assume the millions of touristss that visit each year are not allowed to drink alcohol in this state? I bet if I wanted to I could walk down the street and buy a gun though, what a country....

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