Washington State Liquor Control Board

When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, Washington State citizens wanted to make sure that newly-legal alcohol would not create an undesirable atmosphere in their state. Governor Martin appointed a commission to study the problem; it concluded that since prohibition had been a failure, the best plan was to allow widespread, licensed distribution of beer and wine, but to control strictly the sale of hard liquor by allowing to be sold only in government dispensaries. Washington passed a Liquor Control Act, modeled to a great extent on British Columbia's system, to control the sale of liquor. The act set up a three-member Liquor Control Board, appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the State Senate, to protect "the welfare, health, peace, morals, and safety of the people of the state (Forty-seventh Annual Report)." The Board had to decide quickly how to staff, organize, and audit itself; select and purchase many different types of liquor; set prices; set up and open stores and hire people to run them; inspect wholesalers and retailers; enforce the law; and many other activities. The Board became involved in lawsuits almost immediately as several brewers sued the City of Seattle and an association of drug store owners sued the state (drug stores were required to stop selling spirituous liquor by 24 March 1933). During the 1930s to the 1990s, the Board dealt with a number of issues, including when and where to sell liquor; how to deal effectively with women and minors who wanted to purchase liquor; whether gas stations could sell liquor; regulation of liquor sales on Indian reservations; drunk-driving initiatives; and taxation of liquor.