Bad News Maine; Your Alcohol Nips May Be Going Up In Price

Lawmakers hoping to fix an increasing litter problem caused by alcohol nips have an idea that would increase the price for consumers. 

There's no debate on the popularity of mini-alcohol bottles in Maine. Concert goers, wedding parties and just stressed out humans have begun snatching up the small, and easily transported, brands of their favorite booze off of store shelves. But there's been an unintended consequence from the surge in small bottles and Maine lawmakers are hoping to put an end to that.

According to the Bangor Daily News, the consequence has been litter. In all corners of the state, empty mini-bottles of alcohol have been popping up on roadsides, outside stores and even in public parks, leaving people upset. They've complained to their state representatives and now those representatives want to take action.

The State would like to put a 15 cent deposit on all mini-bottles of alcohol, called "nips". Whether it's Jack Daniels, Captain Morgan and a Maine favorite, Fireball, all of them will have the deposit attached. Initially the cost seems minimal to the consumer, but not so fast.

There's great opposition to this plan from Maine lawmakers. Distributors claim they will have to raise overall costs for nips because of the labor intensive process of placing deposit stickers on each individual bottle. Additionally, redemption centers are voicing their concerns that separating and checking each mini-bottle of alcohol would be extremely time consuming and a detriment to their staff.

Currently, there is only one other state in the country that applies the 15 cent deposit to nips, Iowa. Distributors warn that beyond an increase in price, the big companies that supply the product may choose to deliver less supply, or cut Maine off completely if the deposit is attached to nips.

What do you think? Should there be a 15 cent deposit on mini-bottles of alcohol in Maine?