Texas Panhandle Embraces Alcohol Prohibition

ALCOHOL September-October 1997

Fifty-three Texas counties now forbid the sale of alcohol, including 34 in the Texas panhandle. According to Roy Hale, a staff services officer for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, "It may be one of the biggest areas of contigous dry counties left anywhere in the country." Even the people who always vote "wet" admit they like the situation. "You don't see people lying around drunk on the street, and our community is safer because if you want it, you've got to make an effort to get it," said Ann Boggs, who worked for a liguor store chain (Randy Kennedy, "Beer Can Be Far Away In Most of West Texas," New York Times, August 25, 1997, p. A12).