SalemNews.com, Salem, MA

Opinion

January 31, 2012

Our View: What will they ban next?

The MBTA wants to hike fares and cut service, but is apparently willing to sacrifice $1.5 million in revenue in the interest of appearing politically correct.

The transit agency announced recently that it will no longer accept advertising for beer or other alcoholic beverages on its property. The move came at the behest of SAFE MA, an organization dedicated to ridding all state-owned facilities of alcohol-related advertising for fear it encourages underage drinking.

The T's advertising agency says it hopes to recruit other advertisers to make up the $1.5 million its client stands to lose as a result of the new policy. But this hardly seems the time for management to be putting dubious principle ahead of financial necessity.

Supporters of the ban cite the ban on tobacco advertising as precedent for this latest campaign. Should we expect a revival of the Prohibition movement sometime soon?

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