So We Saw This One Coming: Senator Threatens To Shelve Maryland Wine Shipping

A blog posting on Vinotrip about the direct wine shipping bill "and the opponents that seek to sweep it under the rug and pretend that it isn’t an issue":

So We Saw This One Coming: Senator Threatens To Shelve Maryland Wine Shipping

The Baltimore Sun came through with a story today about Maryland Wine Shipping and the opponents that seek to sweep it under the rug and pretend that it isn’t an issue. The story focuses on senator Joan Carter Conway (D) and her thoughts on the bill; these are important because she is the chairwoman of the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee. She has the power to stalemate SB566 and prevent it from being voted on in committee. No committee vote = no Senate vote = no direct wine shipping.

You may wonder why a bill on wine shipping is in the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee instead of something more appropriate like Budget and Taxation. It’s because opponents of direct wine shipping have made this a heath issue by calling out concerns about underage drinking.

Her chief concern, [Conway] said, is that underage drinkers will tap the Internet for wine. There’s no way, she said, to force delivery agencies, whether the U.S. Postal Service or a private carrier, to verify the age of the person accepting a package.

I’d go into this, but I’d probably burn the blog down in anger before I finished the post. Instead, please enjoy this analysis from Dave McIntyre’s WneLine.

The U.S. Postal Service won’t ship alcoholic beverages, period. And UPS and FedEx are very conscientious about not delivering alcoholic beverages without an adult signature.

He goes on, and it is worth clicking through to the post.

Link to Baltimore Sun article.