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Monday, October 31, 2005
Lawmakers Likely to Ease Ohio’s Wine-Shipping Laws
It appears wine may be flowing more freely into Ohio soon — and legally.
Back in May, I cautioned wine consumers — at least, those who wanted to order wine from outside Ohio and ship it into the state — to think twice before popping their corks …
…in celebration of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that at first blush appeared to pave the way for just that type of wine transaction.
“In the end, the decision could mean more restrictions on direct shipping of wine than those that Ohioans currently face,� I wrote at the time.
That’s because the 5-4 ruling didn’t really approve interstate shipping. It simply said states couldn’t treat out-of-state wineries differently from in-state wineries, which in Ohio have long had the ability to sell and ship wine inside Ohio.
At the time, a coalition that included Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the companies that distribute wine on the wholesale level (and which stand to “lose� money whenever an Ohioan buys wine online) made noises about proposing legislation that would restrict shipping for everybody, raising the red-herring argument that online wine purchasing would lead to teen-agers buying alcohol online.
This battle is raging in Michigan, where lobbyists for a group calling itself Point Click Drink are trying to whip this issue into a frenzy with “helps us protect our children� e-mails citing surveys that show — gasp! — that teen-agers spend a lot of time online, and buy things online, too.
Earth to panic-pushers: teen-agers looking to score alcohol are not going to get online, order a case of fine cabernet sauvignon from a boutique winery in California, wait a week for it to arrive on the doorstep, gamble that they’ll be the only one home when it does arrive, convince the delivery driver that they’re legal adults and can sign for the beverage, then call all their buddies, pull corks and start swirling, sniffing and sipping. The argument is bogus.
And the folks in charge in Columbus apparently see right through the spin and the hype.
State Rep. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, is speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives and is at the moment one of the most — if not THE most, given recent events involving state office holders Columbus — influential policy makers in the state. And Husted told me in a phone interview that he and fellow legislators are leaning towards a less restrictive shipping system.
“We’re looking at legislation that would open it up,� Husted said, so out-of-state as well as in-state wineries can ship their products to Ohioans. Husted wants the wine to be clearly packaged as alcoholic beverages, and he wants shippers to ensure minors won’t be taking shipment of alcohol. And he wants to make sure Ohio collects appropriate taxes on all of the transactions.
Most importantly, Husted said he knows of no legislation being prepared to take the issue in the other direction — to ban it for both interstate and intrastate shipping.
Meanwhile, news of the relaxation of Ohio’s original shipping restrictions that occurred after the court decision is spreading in California: local folks who buy wine from California wineries are reporting that those wineries are now more likely to ship to Ohio. The legislation Husted is talking about would confirm and cement those new, less restrictive rules.
It’s still too soon for wine enthusiasts who support the open system to pop their Champagne corks. But it may be time to start icing down those bottles.
Cheers!
Mark Fisher
P.S. For more information, and a point of view quit a bit different from the Point Click Drink organization linked to above, see Free the Grapes.
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