The General Assembly of Pennsylvania has created a system of laws governing the orderly sale of alcoholic beverages in the state while discouraging and preventing the sale of alcohol to minors or visibly intoxicated persons. Like it has with all alcoholic beverage sales, the legislature has created a delicate balance between marketing and control with special incentives and penalties to help ensure that beer is kept out of the hands of minors.
The system works well. The distributor pays a fee for a license to sell beer and other beverages in a specific county. The state, in turn, places a heavy burden on the license holder to control sales to minors and the visibly intoxicated. Illicit sales can result in fines, suspension or outright revocation. Because licensees are prevented by law from selling a broad range of products, these are serious and sometimes fatal sanctions to a business that fails to enforce the law. Super markets and convenience stores would be barely affected by fines, suspensions or revocations because beer would represent only a small fraction of their total sales – thereby removing the disincentive for illicit sales.
