Avenue Vine

A year after the Supreme Court made it easier for wineries to ship products to customers in a different state, a new survey indicates that teens haven't necessarily rushed to use the Internet to buy alcohol, as critics of the court's decision have feared.

The survey by Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU) in Northbrook, Ill., found that 2% of youths ages 14-20 reported having purchased alcohol online, and that 12% reported having a friend who had ordered alcohol online.

The survey was commissioned by the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, a trade group that opposed the court's decision allowing direct shipments from wineries to customers in different states.

Such bans on interstate sales were part of an alcohol distribution system that has required wineries, breweries and distilleries to sell their products to state-licensed wholesalers, which sell the products to liquor stores. The wholesalers group argued that besides cutting its members out of such sales, the court's ruling allowing interstate sales online made it easier for teens to buy alcohol without having to go through face-to-face transactions that require them to present an ID.

It's unclear how many teens were buying alcohol online before the court's ruling, but the TRU survey suggests such purchases are rare. The survey of 1,001 people ages 14-20 found that nearly all of those surveyed had Internet access at home and that about one-third were aware that alcohol could be purchased online. Fewer than 10% of the youths surveyed said they had browsed a website that sold alcohol. By contrast, 80% reported having browsed a sexually explicit site.

Tom Riley, spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said the survey indicates online alcohol sales to teens aren't a major problem, but he warned that could change. "While online sales of alcohol have not yet been a big part of the addiction problem, parents need to learn what teens already know: that the drug dealer who used to lurk in the seedy side of town is now just an e-mail or a URL away from your home."

However, Juanita Duggan of the wholesalers group called the survey results "shocking" and said she expects the number of teens ordering alcohol online to rise. "This is new, hard evidence that should really shake up this debate about direct sales. Every state has a policy choice to make."

Many states are revisiting their alcohol sales laws to comply with the court's ruling, which said New York and Michigan's bans on interstate sales illegally hindered commerce.

Source: “Teens not rushing online to buy wine, survey shows,” Donna Leinwand, USA TODAY, August 9, 2006

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And from the folks at Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America: “CYBERBUZZ”

Alcohol Deregulation: A Rising Threat to Kids, Communities and Common Sense

There is a growing national debate about the potential deregulation of alcohol distribution and sales. Legal and legislative decisions are being made that will affect how beer, wine and liquor sales are regulated—or not regulated—in your community.

Politically powerful interests are trying to use the courts and state legislatures to allow alcohol to be sold to consumers over the Internet or through the mail. This is despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of Americans view alcohol as a socially sensitive product that should be regulated by local authorities and treated differently than other products.

The billion-dollar wine producing industry wants to eliminate alcohol safeguards, no matter the risks to others. They advocate a free-for-all of anonymous online, catalog and telephone transactions that will only increase the current shadow market of all forms of alcohol—beer, liquor and wine. These unmarked, untracked and unaccountable sales eliminate face-to-face I.D. checks and prevent officials from knowing who is buying and selling alcohol in their local community. Unbelievably, I.D. checks and revenue collection would be left to an informal and voluntary honor system. Research confirms Americans oppose such a radical shift in eliminating long-standing safeguards with regard to alcohol sales.

Big box retailers are also hoping to trample on local control by trying to dismantle the proven, locally created system of distributing alcohol from producers through distributors to retailers. If successful, every alcohol retailer, no matter size or technological ability, will gain the right to deal directly with out-of-state or out-of-country producers of alcohol. The result: state regulators lose the ability to identify who is buying and selling beer, wine and liquor within their borders. This is a bad idea because it will prevent I.D. checks for minors, rob communities of much-needed tax revenue and make product purity controls a thing of the past.

America's wine and spirits wholesalers and others remain committed to exposing these issues for what they really are—dangerous and unnecessary steps toward the total deregulation of alcohol sales. To those who want to eliminate local controls over alcohol, we say: soaring profits should not come before sound public policy.

WSWA