The Bismarck City Commission did the right thing in rejecting a request to set up a business delivering alcoholic beverages to homes. The unfortunate truth is that many North Dakotans have serious issues with alcohol abuse. While home delivery of beer, wine and hard liquor might be convenient for some people, for others it provides a temptation they can ill afford.

Other areas of the country allow home delivery of adult beverages, and some states allow alcohol be sold in grocery stores. That does not mean North Dakota has to do the same. We can choose what kind of community we will have.

It's not a matter of legislating morality because there's plenty of existing access at restaurants, bars, clubs and liquor stores. It's a matter of what's important to a community whose citizens may be more at risk that we'd like.

The city commission based its rejection on state law, and the lack of any provisions for home delivery in liquor statutes. That works.

But Bismarck Police Chief Kith Witt also had concerns about enforcement that rang true.

Cody Fleckenstein, who had requested the home-delivery license, had many of the right ideas: those delivering would have to be 21 years of age, required documentation of the buyer's identity and age and that transactions would be on the public records. These stipulations acknowledge many of the issues Witt was concerned about, but it's far from certain that they would be effective checks against abuse.

It doesn't take a close reader of the Tribune to determine that alcohol plays a role in many of the crimes reported in Bismarck-Mandan. And we know it plays a significant role in many of the social issues faced by North Dakotans. The problem isn't new and it isn't restricted to this area. It's a long-term pervasive problem that has taxed some individuals and families without relief. And it has resisted small and large solutions.

It's not a problem that directly affects everyone, be thankful of that. But there's a price for society as a whole, in terms of increased health care costs, and the bills for social and economic crutches that communities and government feel compelled to provide.

Home delivery of beer, wine and hard liquor doesn't need to happen in Bismarck-Mandan. It's a bad idea, and the city commission was right to reject the request.