Déjà Vu: Push for Sunday Alcohol Sales is Repeated

Out-of-state retailers claiming they want equality for consumers (but really want market share) have renewed their push for expanding alcohol sales on Sunday with Sen. Phil Boots in the lead again.
 
The media push began last week with calls to the Indianapolis Business Journal under the guise of pitching a "new" economic study, which is actually 10 years old.
 
The national march on state regulations has been well funded by not only non-Indiana businesses, but also by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS).
 
DISCUS feels the timing is right to have all states fall in line with no limits on alcohol sales now that state budgets are severely cash-strapped.
 
However, in many of this year's Walgreens permits approved across the state, managers of those Illinois-owned stores consistently said they would be expanding stock in alcohol by only 2 to 5 percent - hardly the windfall big chains are attempting to "spin" now to state lawmakers as a new source of millions in cash.
 
With much to gain and lose in this debate, it will be interesting to see how everyone weighs in-and how much spin is going to occur, especially with the media.

An Indiana Mayor's Take on Alcohol Issues

Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight

Check out Project RAD's latest video featuring Mayor Greg Goodnight in Kokomo.

 
Goodnight sat down with us briefly to discuss alcohol sales and deregulation in Indiana.
 
He's featured on the homepage of our website and also on our Facebook page if you'd like to share the link.
 
For more video voices, visit our updated Facebook page and the tab on www.projectRAD.com called "Real Voices Video."
 
Unlike Sunday sales proponents who use anonymous online petitions, we like to document the voices of real Hoosiers.

What Readers Tell RAD About Alcohol Issues

Based on the new push for expanding alcohol sales on Sundays led by out-of-state retailers and Sen. Boots, a convenience store owner, we are sharing with our thousands of statewide readers what Project RAD surveys have revealed since the summer.
 
Our survey responses are gathered via our statewide newsletter, website and also our blog.
 
Brought to you by Project Responsible Alcohol Distribution/Project RAD
 
Do you think Walgreens should be allowed to sell beer, wine and alcohol in Indiana? (March 2010)

No - 92 %  
Yes - 8 %  
Don't know - 0 %

Indiana's laws regulating alcohol are ... (May 2010)

... not tough enough.  - 82 %  
... just right. - 18 %  
... too tough.  - 0 %

Should Indiana sell alcohol on Sundays in retail outlets that include gas stations, convenience and grocery stores? (June 2010)

No - 76 %  
Yes - 24 %

Do you believe lawmakers should look at the social costs of expanded alcohol sales in Indiana? (July-August 2010)

Yes - 86 %
No - 14 %
Unsure - 0 %

Hammond Residents Quash Walgreens Permits... So Far

The Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission upheld a Lake County decision to deny new alcohol permits at two Hammond Walgreens stores. 

Hammond residents and City Attorney Kris Kantar contested petitions to sell at two locations on Calumet Avenue at Gostlin Street and at 173rd Street.

Robertsdale resident Bonnie Henry, who remonstrated against the petition before the board in Indianapolis, said the city doesn't need any more liquor stores.

"I live in the 1st District and we have over 40 liquor stores in just the 1st District," Henry said. "We have enough. We don't want any more."

Walgreens can appeal the ATC decision and likely will.

In a more recent action by the state, Walgreens appealed a local board denial and a state denial. An administrative judge ruled in favor of the mega drugstore chain for 3 locations in Crown Point, Ind.

The city attorney has also been challenged in another remonstrance for lack of "standing" to appeal a permit decision.

Major Indianapolis law firms are now comparing notes and filing pre-written orders for the state to deny a number of intervenors, including Drug Free groups and other citizens.

Watch for more in Project RAD's upcoming report on the ATC.

Who Else is Tracking Sunday Alcohol Sales?

As state legislatures get ready to open the doors to new laws across the country, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) is busy getting media to write about alcohol deregulation.

The latest article in USA Today tells the status of states falling in line to the expansion of Sunday sales.

Indiana remains one of the holdouts. Here, statewide public opinion polls have shown that it's a non-starter but special interest groups continue to bang the drum loudly. DISCUS lobbies hard in states where regulations prohibiting Sunday sales remain intact and out-of-state corporate chains (such as Walgreens) continue to push alcohol in drugstores.

But others are also watching, including the American Council on Alcohol Problems.

CA University Project: Reduced Underage Drinkin

A program at a group of public universities in California cut the level of heavy drinking at private parties and other locations by 6 percent, researchers report in the December issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

A police officer at UC Irvine confiscates liquor from a vehicle at a sobriety checkpoint (Source: UCI.edu)

The "Safer California Universities" study included measures such as stricter enforcement of local nuisance ordinances, police-run decoy operations, driving-under-the-influence checkpoints, and use of campus and local media to spread the word about the crackdown. It's one of the first studies of college drinking that focuses on the environment rather than on prevention aimed at individuals, the researchers said.

Previous studies have shown that nearly half of U.S. students at four-year colleges binge drink regularly. Excessive drinking by undergrads causes more than 1,800 deaths each year, 590,000 unintentional injuries, close to 700,000 assaults and more than 97,000 sexual assaults, according to background information in the study.

The researchers found that students from Safer universities were 9 percent less likely to have consumed alcohol to intoxication at the last off-campus party they attended, and 15 percent less likely to have done so at bars/restaurants. It also appeared that less drinking occurred at fraternities and sororities.

These reductions were considered the equivalent of 6,000 fewer incidents of drunkenness at off-campus parties, and 4,000 fewer at bars and restaurants during the fall semester at each school, compared with schools that didn't implement the measures.

For the full article, click here.

Beer Distributors Cite Effective State-Based Alcohol Regulation

Boston Globe Columnist's Take on Alcohol Advertising

This is a worthy read for this line alone: Based on the ads we allow, we adults are the wide-awake drunks. For the full article by Derrick Z. Jackson, click here.

International Updates on Alcohol Regulations

From Kenya: Kenyan bars record low sales as force of new law bites

From the United Kingdom: U.K. considering moves to cut alcohol and tobacco consumption