You Read it Here First

Much of the hoopla over Sunday sales comes from big-box retailers and a national trade group called the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS). DISCUS is knocking states over like bowling pins to deregulate the sales of alcohol, according to research and media reports across the country.

Project RAD is providing our readers with a copy of a 2001 study paid for by DISCUS targeting Indiana that proponents have been using with media for the past couple of years.

This was provided to Project RAD by a lawmaker who is tired of the "spin" of a group purporting to be pushing for consumers, but is really a band of lobbyists pushing the issue for their well-paying clients like Walmart.

At the heart of this debate, we bring your attention to the convenience factor cited on page four of the report:

"Were grocery stores, regardless of the presence of a pharmacy within their confines, permitted to sell spirits, several benefits would accrue to Hoosier consumers and the state of Indiana: Convenience - because consumers already make repeated trips to grocery stores each week they would associate greater convenience with the ability to purchase liquor there."

DISCUS also predicted a major sales bump for retailers on distilled spirits, citing convenience as the main factor for increased sales.

Should alcohol be a convenient product? Lawmakers will have to decide if Sen. Boots' continuing attempts to deregulate the industry make sense for more than 6.4 million Hoosiers.

Read the full 17-page DISCUS report here.

Wouldn't it be NICE to see a Campaign like this in Indiana?

What are other states doing to promote responsible drinking during the holidays?

Check out what the Oregon Liquor Control Commission is up to here.
 

Check out what Nebraska's First Lady and beer distributors are up to here.

Jennifer Ping: Local Alcohol Board Member Reappointed Despite Complaints

Jennifer Ping

A party-line vote of the Indianapolis Rules and Public Policy Committee to reappoint a member of the Marion County Alcoholic Beverage Board continues to smolder with local neighborhood groups.

Jennifer Ping's recommended reappointment came into question recently by citizens who believe she is disrespectful, political in her decisions, and may now have a conflict of interest in continuing to serve due to a law firm merger.

Ping's law firm has merged with Bose McKinney & Evans, a firm that represents Walgreens in its mostly successful pursuit of nearly 200 new alcohol permits across the state of Indiana. The newly merged firms will be renamed Bose Ping Government Strategies.
 

What partly prompted this recent complaint was when Ping declared at a permit review hearing that citizens would not be allowed to read into the record a letter from Democrat City-County Councilwoman Joanne Sanders. Sanders voted against Ping's reappointment, saying she had "grave concerns" about appointed board members who treat citizens without due respect.
 

Neighborhood advocates Clarke Kahlo and Larry Vaughn both spoke against Ping's reappointment at the hearing in which she did not appear. Kahlo submitted a two-page document and cited concerns over ethical and conflict of interest interests. "For instance, the Bose McKinney law firms represents Walgreens Drugs in its current push for permits in all its stores statewide. Ms. Ping did not recuse herself during the recent Board reviews of the multiple Walgreens cases ... It's probable that the negotiations for the merger preceded the recent official announcement by many months."
 

Since all of the local board meetings are videotaped and archived online, citizens urged committee members to watch Ping in action and make a judgment call of their own.

No doubt this will come up again at a council meeting.

To view the hearing on Ping's 4-3 party line reappointment, click here.

Need a Bottle of Wine? Hit the Walmart Kiosk

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has approved wine kiosks in nearly 30 grocery stores, including Wegmans, Giant Eagle, Giant, Brown ShopRite, Shop 'n Save and the Fresh Grocer.

Now Walmart wants approval for 23 locations statewide.

A customer must use a kiosk's built-in breathalyzer to make a purchase, which can determine a blood-alcohol level from a breath sample from up to 12 inches away.

If the customer has a blood alcohol level of .02 percent or higher, the transaction is terminated.

Customers must also insert their driver's license for verification, and the photo is matched to an image of the buyer to prevent underage sales.

At the end of fiscal year 2010 Walmart has over 4,300 stores and clubs in the U.S., and more than 8,400 units worldwide. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates in all 50 states and internationally with Walmart Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets, Discount Stores and Sam's Club locations in the United States (includes Puerto Rico). The company also operates in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua and the United Kingdom.

A Message from Tippecanoe County

This is a message sent out to subscribers of the Drug-Free Coalition of Tippecanoe County's newsletter last Tuesday:

Indiana's grocery, drug and convenience stores are once again pushing their agenda to allow for the sale of alcohol on Sunday and to allow them the privilege to sell cold beer.  The Drug-Free Coalition of Tippecanoe County is not supportive of Sunday sales or cold beer sales. We know that increasing the availability of alcohol will in turn increase the burden on our community.

It is time for public health and safety to take precedence over an argument based on profit margins and on a lack of convenience that doesn't actually exist.  Alcohol is already widely available and accessible in Indiana and Tippecanoe County. Increasing the availability of alcohol on Sundays and expanding the sale of cold beer should not be a legislative priority. Protecting and improving public and fiscal health and the safety of our communities would be the most valuable 'convenience' we could receive.

If you're writing about alcohol policy issues in Indiana, visit the "For Media" page on the Project RAD website for a list of resources.

Butler University President Touts Alcohol-Free Fraternity

Bobby Fong, Butler University's departing president, takes a moment to recognize one particular fraternity on campus that decided to go alcohol-free. Butler, by the way, is a wet campus, meaning that alcohol is allowed. But one frat has decided to be a trailblazer.

FDA Alert Circumvented Online for Four Loko Sales