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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Boston's liquor store owners are pushing back against a proposed ban on "nips."
Many owners say Councilor Ricardo Arroyo's proposal to ban the sale of miniature alcohol bottles, also known as nips, would be damaging to their business.
Steve Rubin, an owner of a package store on Huntington Avenue, told WBZ's Mike Macklin that about 15 percent of his sales are from nips. He says many stores in Boston get up to 30 percent of their sales from the miniature bottles.
"A person that comes in to buy a miniature bottle, he buys a can of soda, he might buy a pack of cigarettes or a lottery ticket, it brings in a lot of people and it's a very profitable item," Rubin told WBZ's Mike Macklin.
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The liquor store owners are proposing a five-cent bottle bill for every bottle sold that could go to the city to help pay for clean-up efforts.
"Bans have never worked ever. If you ban this size in the 100 ml size consumers will have to buy a 200 ml, that increases alcoholism," Rubin said. "The problem lies in the litter."
Rubin says solving Boston's litter problem should not be putting package stores out of business.
WBZ's Mike Macklin has more:
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