I read an article from the associated press today which reported that Maine state senator Lynn Bromley has sponsored a bill (which was up for review today) which would legally allow adults in Maine to have wine shipped to their homes. I was really astonished and annoyed… that this wasn’t already legal!
Apparently this is the fourth time in the last few years such a bill has come before the State Legislature. Each time it has been defeated due to concerns from state police that wine deliveries will open the door to under-age drinking. Even though the wine cannot be delivered without the signature of the recipient, who must be over the age of 21 and similar programs are already legal (and work just fine) in thirty other states.
The thought that home delivery of alcohol — I assume the bill also applies to popular beer-related delivery services like Beer of the Month Clubs and homebrew competitions, although an email to the Senator to get that question answered bounced — would increase the likelihood of under-age drinking is preposterous. It is far less likely that someone under the age of 21 could get beer or wine delivered to their house safely (its doubtful that their parents would sign for it) than that they could solicit a stranger at a package store to get it for them.
On the other hand, if they were able to somehow have booze delivered to their house, at least they’d be HOME. Not out drinking in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people or, even worse – driving to their home after drinking.
I am not condoning under-age drinking at all, but not allowing legal, consenting adults to have beer & wine delivered to their private home — wine & beer maybe they cannot get anywhere else — because their kids might get their hands on it (which of course they wouldn’t be able to do with the booze already in the house) is just wrong. I only hope that this is the last time such a bill has to come before the State Legislature; there is no reason for such a delivery service to be illegal anywhere in the U.S.!
[tags]beer, wine, Maine, Beer of the Month Clubs, wine clubs, wine of the month[/tags]
Comments
I don’t know about Maine, but you can get beer, wine, and liquor delivered in NYC. There’s this site, http://www.wakozi.com , you go and enter your address, and all the liquor stores and beer delis that deliver to you pop up and you can order from them for immediate delivery, like 30 minutes. It’s awesome.
Same with Seattle — http://www.i-booze.com.
Even though the law in Maine hasn’t passed, yet, its great to see states start to take a look at these issues. We launched brewforia.com a little more than a year ago shipping specialty and craft beer to thirsty beer lovers all over America (where legal of course) and it has been a huge hit. In just a year we have grown to become one of the largest online retailers of specialty beer in the country and are now preparing to launch a chain of retail locations around the country as a means of expanding our selection and better serving the ever growing army of beer lovers in this country.
The argument that mail order beer contributes to underage drinking are just simply false. As already stated above minors stand a much better chance of getting someone at the C-Store to buy them beer than they are to get it online. The signature and ID requirement are one part of that but there is also the cost of shipping. The simple fact that shipping beer is far more expensive than buying it locally would disuade any would be minor from making that online purchase. Its a silly argument being made by people who fear political blowback from conservative anti-alcohol zealots. I say write your Congress people today and tell them that they should support allowing mail order beer and wine sales as well as the ability to do beer tastings as well as wine tastings.
Cheers!
Rick
BeerRightNow.com has same day beer delivery. great home beer delivery in philly and nyc.
In Toronto I use the beer & liquor delivery service of:
http://www.always-dialabottle-toronto.com
416-890-7451
Cheers!
Does anyone know about Montana? I want to start my own beer delivery service
I have my booze delivered by http://www.toronto-dialabottle.com/ in Toronto. Have recently moved from of New York where delivery was not needed as you can find alcohol at every corner. Here there are only monopoly stores selling liquor and close at 9 pm
So bad!
Why don’t you just card upon providing service.. If the customer cannot provide a state issued ID that shows the customer is of age… Sold… I’ve thought of this and a deliver anything available type of company… Liquor, cigarettes, jack in the box, fried chicken…. A tool from home depot.. A phone charger… Anything available at an inflated prices