The problems the three-tier system was designed to address no longer exist. Today, a new set of problems and issues ought to serve as the basis and motivations behind the state alcohol regulatory system.

Today, there are four priorities that every state alcohol regulatory system must address:

Encourage responsible alcohol consumption

Fund government through the efficient collection of alcohol excise taxes
Encourage a competitive marketplace for alcohol sales and distribution 

Provide consumers with access to the marketplace for alcohol products. 

Of these four imperatives, the three-tier system only partially addresses the issue of collection of taxes, while that system does nothing to address, and even diminishes, the three other imperatives. A modern alcohol regulatory system would address these four issues by including the following provisions:

1. Licencing Is Required
Any producer or importer seeking to sell alcohol through a state’s retailers would be required to obtain a license from the state.

2. Producers may Self Distribute or Use Wholesalers
Producers licensed to sell alcohol at retail in a state may choose to sell directly to retailers or engage a state-licensed wholesaler to sell their products to retailers in the state

3. Producers May Work with One or Many Wholesalers in a State
Producers may assign exclusive territories to a wholesaler in a state or assign their products to multiple different wholesalers who compete with one another to sell the producer’s products to the same retailers.

4. States May Enact Restrictions to Prevent Wholesaler Control over Retailers
States may restrict wholesaler discounting and regulate other sales, marketing, and pricing systems at the wholesale level so as to prevent wholesaler domination of retail accounts.

5. States Must Allow Direct Shipment to Consumers from In-State and Out-of-State Retailers, Importers, and Producers.
States would allow both in-state and out-of-state producers, importers, and retailers to sell products directly to consumers in their state and may regulate the means by which common carriers deliver those products to consumers.

6. Producers May Sell and Ship From Any Facility They Operate
States would allow producers to sell directly to consumers either from their production facilities’ “tasting rooms” or from remote retail outlets.

7. Tied Houses Would Be Allowed.
Retailers, bars, and restaurants would be allowed to exclusively sell one producer’s products if they choose.

8. States May Limit the Number of Retailer or Producer Sales Locations
A state may restrict the number of consumer-facing establishments a retailer or producer may operate in a state or geographic area. 

Together with other obvious laws including those preventing sales to minors,, these provisions would allow complete oversight of a state’s alcohol beverage industry, allow the collection of taxes on alcohol, encourage a competitive marketplace, provide consumers with access to all legal products available in the U.S. marketplace, and prevent the dominance of one part of the industry, including wholesalers, over the rest of the industry.