Senate committee considers even more alcohol deregulation

The Washington State Senate's Labor, Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee will be voting on the following three bills tomorrow morning. 

1) SB 5650 - Allowing craft distilleries to sell their own spirits at qualifying farmers markets.


2) SB 6475 - Changing the criteria for the beer and wine tasting endorsement for grocery stores.

3) SB 6477 - Concerning spirits sampling in former contract liquor stores.

All three of these bills further deregulate alcohol by increasing the number of places where it can be sold or sampled.  Not to mention that I-1183 establishes that spirits should only be sold in stores that are 10,000 square feet or larger -- how large are farmers markets? 
 
This legislation is part of a growing trend of bills that normalize the casual use of alcohol in places such as grocery stores and farmers markets -- places frequented by children. 
 
Considering that most people drive to grocery stores and farmers markets, such bills also dilute the directive "don't drink and drive" to "it is okay to drink a little and drive".

Easing regulations to raise money

Earlier today, I went through my "to read" folder and posted a bunch of drug and alcohol-related links in the blog entry below.  I was going to include one from the New York Times entitled "States Putting Hopes in ‘Bottoms Up’ to Help the Bottom Line" but I thought it deserved its own entry considering all of our local/state initiatives that would ease regulations on alcohol.

Here's an excerpt:

With cities across the country facing their fifth straight year of declining revenues and states cutting services and laying off workers, raising money from people who enjoy a cocktail is becoming an increasingly attractive option.

Since the recession started in earnest in 2008, dozens of states and cities have tinkered with laws that regulate alcohol sales as a way to build up their budgets.

Although some drinkers and government budget writers might like the changes, not everyone is happy.

“Lawmakers are taking a very short-sided view,” said David Jernigan, director of the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “What they gain in short-term tax revenue they are losing in long-term police costs, emergency room costs and work-force readiness costs in terms of the Monday morning effect.”

Like many public health officials, Mr. Jernigan does not support government efforts that increase the availability of alcohol, but he does support raising sales tax as a way to make people drink less.

As I have noted in previous blog entries, stringent alcohol regulations are one tool communities rely upon to prevent underage drinking.  So, as our local and state governments propose increasing access to alcohol as a way to raise tax revenue, communities should consider the costs associated with increased access .  At the same time, communities may want to consider advocating for an increase in taxes on alcohol -- a policy that has proven to prevent underage drinking. 

Video about alcohol deregulation wins innovation award

The Center for Alcohol Policy's educational video about the dangers of alcohol deregulation has been honored with a gold award in the category of "Media Innovation" by the Association Media & Publishing's 2011 EXCEL Awards.  This competition recognizes the best in association and non-profit media and publishing.



The video highlights the contrast between the deregulated system of alcohol controls in the United Kingdom with the more effective system of alcohol regulation in the United States.