RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Virginians bought more alcohol in the state’s beverage control stores and restaurants as the state agency saw record sales for the 20th year in a row.
The Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority said in a new report that its total sales were $983.3 million in fiscal year 2018. That’s up $43 million from the previous year.
The agency attributes the sales increase in part to opening five new stores across the state, including a superstore at Dulles International Airport.
Tito’s Handmade domestic vodka was the number one seller in fiscal 2018, bringing in $33.4 million. Hennessy cognac, the top seller in 2017, was No. 2 with $33.1 million in gross sales.
Charles McWilliams says
While lobbyists would never stand for it. Funding well appropriated, if a percentage of profits were directed towards curriculum based education funding:
Recognizing The Impaired Driver, Ignition Interlocks, Field Trips to the Morgue, Topics on Liver Disease etc., might stem the rising tide of DUI’S and health issues.
Slide Easy says
Plastic Crack is killing 60-90 people each week in this country. It causes more injuries per year that alcohol.
It spans all ages, walks of life and types of vehicles. I have witnessed every type of vehicle on the road looking at their plastic crack/phone while driving….Cops, Teens, Men, Women, Dump Trucks, Tractor Trailers, Ambulances, Fire Engines, Wide Loads, even Motorcycles.
It is the damnedest thing I have ever seen….Total Addiction and Socially Acceptable.
Please remember, all you Sheep……….Crack Kills!
Lori Harris says
I never thought that I would ever see 7 out of 10 adults hurling themselves through space 50-70 MPH looking, typing, smiling, typing. It is a testimony to the human brain that they are not piling up like cord wood along the road. They walk city streets never taking their eyes off their palms. If the amount of sheer energy spent on phones were turned to finding a cures for fatal diseases it would be a sunny day. Instead, it is proven they are changing the shapes of their spines. Fools.
Mud Shark says
Distracted driving has become an epidemic, but do people believe that it is even more dangerous than drunk driving? According to our recent survey of more than 700 drivers, the answer is yes; 63 percent of respondents noted they are more afraid of distracted drivers than drunk drivers.
Each day, roughly 9 people are killed in crashes caused by distracted drivers – equating to about 3,285 deaths a year. When compared to the number of people killed in drunk driving-related crashes in 2016 (10,497) that number is smaller, driving while distracted is actually more dangerous. Texting and driving at 55 miles per hour is the equivalent of driving the length of a football field with eyes closed. Even more, it takes the average sober driver .54 seconds to hit the brake. For a driver who’s been drinking, add four feet to their reaction time, but add 70 feet for someone who has been texting.