Alcohol sales likely to go up with new casino

Iowa’s set to see more gambling licenses issued in 2005 and that could a boost to already robust state alcohol sales. Lynn Walding, the director of the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division, says casinos are good customers. He says any expansion in gambling would probably show a corresponding increase in alcohol sales as well. Walding says part of the increases consumption of alcohol will be from people outside the state who visit the casinos. He says that’s why there was a lot of interest when one of Iowa’s neighbors considered allowing gambling. He says it was an issue that a lot of suppliers were watching when Nebraska considered gambling. He says they wondered what the consequence would’ve been and how much business they would’ve lost if Nebraska legalized gambling.