Alcohol is the number one drug of choice by minors and alcohol-related accidents are the biggest killers of our nation s teenagers. If we fail to implement a stricter system for limiting the accessibility of alcohol to our nation s youth, we will ultimately reverse all of the progress we have made over past decade in highway safety and alcohol awareness. Further, we will allow yet another venue for the illegal distribution of alcoholic beverages to minors accelerate the binge drinking, driving under the influence, missing school and work, causing both long and short-term health problems, getting arrested or becoming another DUI fatality. Currently, law enforcement officers bust vendors who sell alcohol to minors, as well as those underage persons who are caught purchasing alcohol. However, we currently have no means by which to police the Internet or regulate the direct shipment of alcohol.
Direct shippers operate outside of the licensed distribution system.
The licensed beverage distribution system is an essential part of the alcohol control process and contributes billions in federal and state taxes each year. Direct shipments circumvent these laws and rob states of tax revenues. Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia and North Carolina have recently upgraded their laws to make direct shipment a felony. At least 26 other states have sent cease and desist letters to wineries and retailers urging them to stop illegal direct shipments of alcohol. With direct shipments there is no regulatory system to guard against underage access or to collect alcohol beverage taxes.