Liquor does not have many advocates in North Carolina.

Lobbyist Theresa Kostrzewa represents the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., which is backing a bill that would allow state ABC stores to sell liquor on Sundays.

On issues affecting beer and wine sales, Kostrzewa says she could turn to distributors or retailers to drum up grassroots support. But liquor is sold in stores run by state workers who can't take sides.

So she turned to Facebook. In March, she had an employee, Zach Pritchett, create Support Sunday ABC Sales in NC! on the social networking site. 

He invited a few friends, as did Kostrzewa. With no other publicity, the group grew to 493 members, including state Rep. Nick Mackey, a Charlotte Democrat.

Kostrzewa, who joined Facebook last year to play Scrabble online, says she's impressed with the site's networking potential.

"It's a ready-made grassroots network that you didn't know you had," she said.

North Carolina residents are ready to raise the taxes on sin.

So say the latest results from the Elon University Poll, which asked whether people would support a hike in the so-called "sin taxes" on cigarettes and alcohol.

The poll surveyed 758 North Carolina residents from Feb. 22-26. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

Here's what they had to say:

Liquor tax: 78 percent support tax increase, 18 percent oppose

Wine tax: 76 percent support increase, 20 percent oppose

Cigarette tax: 73 percent support increase, 23 percent oppose

Beer tax: 72 percent support increase, 23 percent oppose