DURHAM, NC – On Monday, Feb. 25 The Center for Alcohol Policy and the North Carolina Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association co-hosted one of the Center’s state alcohol policy forums, which enjoyed the attendance of over 50 state policymakers, legislative staff, alcohol regulators, several public health representatives, and industry members. Read More…
The Center for Alcohol Policy is pleased to announce that Nathaniel E. Moyer, an associate attorney at Harrison & Moberly, LLP in Indianapolis, has been named the winner of the Center’s 11th Annual Essay Contest. The national essay contest is intended to foster debate, analysis and examination of alcohol policy.
The Center for Alcohol Policy is pleased to announce that Chris Curtis, Deputy Secretary to the Board with the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (Virginia ABC), is the recipient of the Sixth Annual Leadership in Alcohol Regulation Award.
The Center for Alcohol Policy has released a new report, “Fake IDs in America: Challenges of Identification and the Critical Need for Training,” authored by Susan Dworak, CEO of Real Identities, LLC. The report outlines current challenges posed by fake IDs, identifies best practices for verifying identification on alcohol sales, and proactive measures policymakers, regulators and licensees can take to protect against alcohol purchases with fake IDs.
The Center for Alcohol Policy is joining organizations across the country in April to recognize Alcohol Awareness Month, a nationwide campaign that raises awareness of the problems that alcohol abuse can cause for individuals, their families and their communities.
The Center for Alcohol Policy is pleased to announce that Joseph Uhlman, a third-year law student at the University of Kansas School of Law, has been named the winner of its 10th Annual Essay Contest. The national essay contest is intended to foster debate, analysis and examination of alcohol policy.
On Tuesday, Dec. 5, the Center for Alcohol Policy will commemorate the 84th anniversary of the ratification of the 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution. On that date in 1933, Prohibition ended in the United States when 36 states (the requisite three-fourths majority of the then 48 states) ratified the 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution, thereby repealing the 18th Amendment which began Prohibition in 1920.
The Center for Alcohol Policy released a new report, “Combatting Fake, Counterfeit, and Contraband Alcohol Challenges in the United Kingdom through the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS),” authored by Robert Tobiassen, the former Chief Counsel at the Treasury Department’s Alcohol Tax and Trade Bureau. The report is a follow up to his 2014 report, “The ‘Fake Alcohol’ Situation in the United States: The Impact of Culture, Market Economics, and the Current Regulatory Systems,” that examined the high number of incidences of fake alcohol in countries around the world, compared to the low number of incidences in the United States.
This Constitution Day, celebrated annually on Sept. 17, the Center for Alcohol Policy is highlighting its educational resources that explain the 21st Amendment’s role in establishing America’s state-based regulatory system. The Center for Alcohol Policy video The Origins of America’s State-Based Regulatory System illustrates the origin of today’s alcohol regulatory system, which works to balance alcohol control with an orderly and competitive marketplace.
The Center for Alcohol Policy announced that Kathie Durbin, chief of licensure, regulation and education at the Montgomery County, Maryland, Department of Liquor Control, is the recipient of the Fifth Annual Leadership in Alcohol Regulation Award. The award, which recognizes a specific program, agency or person who oversees the alcohol industry and promotes public safety, was presented by the Center’s Advisory Council at the 10th Annual Alcohol Law and Policy Conference, in Chicago, Illinois, last week.
According to a recently released national poll commissioned by the Center for Alcohol Policy, four-in-five Americans support individual states’ ability to regulate alcohol. The poll results also show that 93% of respondents believes drunk driving problems remain an extremely or very serious problem, a number surpassing concerns about opioid abuse which has dominated the nation’s headlines recently. Binge drinking and underage drinking are seen as extremely to very serious problems, as well, at 78% and 73% respectively.
Recent news reports indicate that several tourists and families travelling to all-inclusive resorts in Mexico suspect they were given tainted alcohol, which in some cases resulted in death. The reports underscore a stark contrast between alcohol regulation in Mexico and the United States, where state-based alcohol regulation and a three-tiered system of distribution provides a clear chain of custody and guards against tainted alcohol products reaching consumers.
A report by former Chief Counsel for the United States Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau Robert M. Tobiassen, “The ‘Fake Alcohol’ Situation in the United States: The Impact of Culture, Market Economics, and the Current Regulatory Systems,” explains why there are few incidents of fake alcohol products in the United States. The study describes “strong regulatory systems that police the production, importation, distribution and retail sales of alcohol beverages through independent parties” and the country’s “competitive marketplace that provides alcohol beverages at all price points.”
The Center for Alcohol Policy has unveiled a new video highlighting discussion and debate during the Pennsylvania Alcohol Policy Forum, held on March 22. The event, which took place in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, brought together more than 70 alcohol regulators, state lawmakers, legislative staff, public health representatives and industry members.
A new report released by the Center for Alcohol Policy examines the history and purpose of tied-house prohibitions found in federal and state alcohol laws and explains how these prohibitions are as relevant today as when enacted following the repeal of Prohibition.
The report, “The Dangers of Common Ownership in an Uncommon Industry: Alcohol Policy in America and the Timeless Relevance of Tied-House Restrictions,” was authored by former executive counsel for the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control and alcohol law attorney Jessica C. Starns.
The Center for Alcohol Policy announced that Anna Brawley, a senior associate at Agnew::Beck Consulting, is the winner of its Ninth Annual Essay Contest. The national essay contest is intended to foster debate, analysis and examination of state alcohol regulation.
Brawley’s winning essay, “Deconstructing the Drink Menu: A History of Alcoholic Beverages and Proposed Policy Framework,” outlines what is and should be considered when developing sound alcohol beverage control policies.
This Constitution Day, celebrated annually on September 17, the Center for Alcohol Policy is highlighting its educational resources that explain the 21st Amendment’s role in establishing America’s state-based regulatory system.
The Center for Alcohol Policy video The Origins of America’s State-Based Regulatory System illustrates the origin of today’s alcohol regulatory system, which works to balance alcohol control with an orderly and competitive marketplace.
The video describes the Center’s republication of the book Toward Liquor Control, which outlined how states should regulate the sale and serving of alcohol following the repeal of Prohibition, and how the book is still helping shape policy today.
Enforcement of alcohol regulations and policies was a recurring theme during the Center for Alcohol Policy’s Ninth Annual Law and Policy Conference held at the Renaissance Dallas Hotel August 28 – 30 in Dallas, Texas. The conference brought together a diverse group of state and federal alcohol regulators, law enforcement, legislators, public health advocates and alcohol beverage industry representatives to review trends in the field of alcohol regulation and learn from best practices around the country.
Jim Hall, Center for Alcohol Policy advisor and former National Transportation Safety Board chairman, welcomed attendees and summarized the objectives of the conference saying, “Look around the room. There are regulators, legislators, federal health officials, public health interest groups, trade groups, law enforcement and industry members. We may not always agree on policy, but the fact that we are all under one roof having a civil debate is an accomplishment not only for the Center for Alcohol Policy but also for your leadership in your respective fields.”
The Center for Alcohol Policy presented Sherry Cook, executive director of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC), with the Fourth Annual Leadership in Alcohol Regulation Award. The award, which recognizes a specific program, agency or person who oversees the alcohol industry and promotes public safety, was presented by the Center’s Advisory Council at the Ninth Annual Alcohol Law and Policy Conference in Dallas, Texas.
“The Center for Alcohol Policy appreciates that alcohol regulators are the front lines of many initiatives in the states aimed at keeping the alcohol industry properly regulated, promoting public health and safety and supporting a competitive business marketplace,” said Jerry Oliver, a Center Advisory Council member who has served as alcohol regulator in Arizona and as police chief in Pasadena, Richmond and Detroit. “This award highlights effective best practices that may serve as examples to alcohol regulators in other states.”
The Center for Alcohol Policy is pleased to announce that Roni Elias, a recent graduate of Florida A&M University College of Law, is the winner of its Eighth Annual Essay Contest. The national essay contest is intended to foster debate, analysis and examination of state alcohol regulation.
“This year’s essay gave participants from across the country the opportunity to examine the impact of the 2005 Granholm decision on today’s state-based alcohol system,” said Brannon Denning, a member of the Center’s Advisory Council and associate dean and professor of law at Samford University Cumberland School of Law.
Elias’ winning essay, “Three Cheers for Three Tiers: Why the Three-Tier System Maintains Its Legal Validity and Social Benefits After Granholm,” outlines the regulatory and economic advantages of the three-tier system and how threats to the system could erode those benefits that suppliers, wholesalers, retailers and consumers receive.
The Center for Alcohol Policy (CAP) Eighth Annual Alcohol Law and Policy Conference kicked off day two at the Hyatt Chicago Magnificent Mile in Chicago, Illinois, with keynote remarks by South Dakota Attorney General and National Association of Attorneys General President Marty Jackley.
Attorney General Jackley detailed the role of state attorneys general in alcohol policy debates and the importance of policies that safeguard against the abuse of alcohol.