Cuomo: WIGS Out

Gov. Andrew Cuomo hasn't included selling wine in grocery stores (known as WIGS) in either of his two budgets and now we know why: He thinks it's bad for small businesses.

 [1]"I think it would be disruptive to many stores, mom-and-pop shops," he said. "I don't think the benefit outweighs the cost."

It was Cuomo's first explanation of why he doesn't support letting supermarkets sell wine, which is legal in many states. He indicated briefly last year [2] he didn't support it.

Under former Gov. David Paterson, the issue was a prominent one [3]during budget fights in 2009 and 2010-with the state estimating revenue of about $300 million through the sale of liquor licenses to grocery stores.

It was also one of the most expensive lobbying efforts at the Capitol-with supermarkets pushing for the law and liquor stores fighting it. Wegmans spent more than $3 million in 2009 and 2010 [4]to push for the bill's passage, but it didn't happen.

New York is the third largest producer of wine in the country and it is a burgeoning industry. Some wineries had supported the legislation, while others opposed it, fearing that supermarkets wouldn't promote New York-made wines.

Source: Politics on the Hudson

Link: http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2012/01/26/cuomo-wigs-out/ 

Nearly 30 Dollar General stores in Marion County are asking the state for the opportunity to stock their shelves with wine and beer. They have already requested the permits which concerns some neighborhood associations.

"Possibly adding liquor or beer to the store, it'll add more variety, and it'll become more of a 'one stop shop,'" said Joe Stephenson, general manager of a Dollar General Store on the near west side of Indianapolis.

He also said they would profit greatly from the addition of alcohol.

"While Dollar General has applied for 26 permits in Marion County, each of those permits will be considered on its own," said Corporal Travis Thickstun, a spokesperson with Indiana State Excise Police.

Several neighborhood associations are thankful for the alcohol permit process because next month they will be able to weigh in on the permit requests in their respective communities.

"Our goal is to make sure our economic development is first and having an influx of alcohol in our area does not help with that," said Patrice Duckett, a coordinator with the Near West Collaborative.

She said her opinion and others will be voiced at the public hearings held by the Marion County Alcoholic Beverage Board. They are scheduled for Feb. 6 and Feb. 21 at the City County Building.

Source: FOX59.com

Link: http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-alcohol-sales-nearly-30-dollar-general-stores-in-marion-county-are-asking-the-state-to-sell-wine-and-beer-20120118,0,703245,print.column

With recent government reports showing the prevalence of binge-drinking in America -- one in six Americans binge drink, the Associated Press reported -- it's got us wondering what exactly it is about alcohol that is so addictive. A new study from California researchers suggest it's a result of released compounds in our brains.

Alcohol promotes the release of endorphins -- proteins responsible for the feelings of pleasure and reward -- in the brain, according to research from the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center, at the University of California, San Francisco.

The research is the first to show that endorphins are released in the brain regions of the nucleus accumbens and the orbitofrontal cortex when a human drinks alcohol, researchers said.

MSNBC reported that the nucleus accumbens is a brain region linked to addictive behavior, and the orbitofrontal cortex is a brain region linked with decision-making.

"This is something that we've speculated about for 30 years, based on animal studies, but haven't observed in humans until now," study researcher Jennifer Mitchell, PhD, clinical project director at the Gallo Center and an adjunct assistant professor of neurology at UCSF, said in a statement. "It provides the first direct evidence of how alcohol makes people feel good."

In the study, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, researchers used PET imaging to look at the brains of 13 people who heavily drink and 12 people who do not heavily drink. For all the people, researchers saw in the brain scans that endorphins were released in the brain in response to alcohol consumption.

And the more endorphins released in the brain region of the nucleus accumbens, the more pleasure the participants reported experiencing, researchers said.

However, there was a more pronounced effect for the heavy drinkers -- it turns out when those drinkers had more endorphins released in the brain region of the orbitofrontal cortex, the more intoxicated they felt, according to the study.

This finding suggests that heavy drinkers have brain changes that lead to increased feelings of pleasure from alcohol consumption, researchers said.

BBC News reported that alcohol also triggers dopamine release in the brain, a chemical known to spur satisfying feelings.

Source: Huffington Post

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/alcohol-addictive-endorphins-_n_1202406.html

 There's a lot of expert information out there about how much alcohol is good (or not good) for you. How do you determine your personal intake?

One of the top stories on MNN (Mother Nature Network) recently has been about how abstaining from alcohol can shorten your life. One study found that those who engage consistent, moderate drinking live longer than those who abstain from alcohol completely. The article was published last August, but it makes its way into MNN"s Today's Most Popular box (on the right of this page) again and again.

Why? My guess would be that people want this to be true. They want to be given permission to have a couple of drinks as often as they please. I'm one of them. I enjoy wine, beer and cocktails. When the science tells me I should be imbibing, of course I'm going to pay some attention to it.

But what exactly do consistent and moderate mean? They're pretty vague terms, aren't they? Does consistent mean daily? Every other day? Regularly on weekends? Does moderate mean only one drink per day or two?

And, let's face it. When it comes to alcohol, one size does not fit all. Alcoholics are 100 percent better off not drinking any alcohol. Tolerance levels are different for men and women and often depend on a person's size and weight. (Not necessarily, though. I have some very thin friends who seem to have a much higher tolerance than I do.)

How does the average person know when he's crossed over from healthy drinking to over-imbibing?

Source: Mother Nature Network

Link: http://www.mnn.com/food/beverages/blogs/does-one-alcohol-consumption-guideline-fit-all