Millions of Kids Buy Internet Alcohol, Landmark Survey Reveals

Related Audit Confirms States Loosening Internet Alcohol Sales

Laws With Little Monitoring or Enforcement Online

WASHINGTON, Aug. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Millions of minors either buy alcohol online with ease or know an underage friend who does, according to a survey released today by the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America, Inc. (WSWA). A related audit of states conducted by WSWA confirms legislators are moving to increase online alcohol sales despite almost no compliance checks or enforcement by state regulatory agencies due largely to a lack of resources.

"This is a dangerous situation. For the first time, we have hard evidence that millions of kids are buying alcohol online and that the Internet is fast becoming a high-tech, low-risk way for kids to get beer, wine and liquor delivered to their home with no ID check," WSWA Chairman Stan Hastings said. "This landmark data is alarming because state legislatures are rushing to allow wine and other online alcohol sales at a time we know regulatory agencies are telling us they are unable to monitor these types of sales because they lack manpower and resources."

TRU RESEARCH

A new survey conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU)* confirms that a significant number of teens purchase beer, wine and liquor online. Specifically, TRU's survey of 14- to 20-year-olds confirms:

* 3.1 million minors (12%) ages 14-20 report having a friend who has

ordered alcohol online.

* Two percent (551,000) of those ages 14-20 say they personally have

bought alcohol online.

* As exposure and awareness of buying alcohol online increase, even more

minors can be expected to purchase wine, beer and liquor online. This is

consistent with a 2003 National Academy of Sciences report which

confirmed kids are buying alcohol online and that increasing use of the

Internet will make this problem worse in the future.

* Nearly one in 10 (9%) of those ages 14-20 have visited a site that sells

alcohol.

* One-third -- nearly 8.9 million ages 14-20 nationwide -- are open to the

possibility of an online alcohol purchase before age 21.

* Seventy-five percent say their parents aren't able to control what they

do on the Internet.

* Among those ages 14-20 who have tried alcohol, 75% tried liquor,

followed by wine at 64%, beer at 60% and wine coolers at 55%.

Richard**, a high school student who bought liquor online, said it was easy. "Most of us live and shop online. It is a no-brainier for us to get alcohol on the Web," he said. "Just do a search for 'buy alcohol online,' and watch all the random sites pop up. That's how my friends and I found someone to ship us a bottle of absinthe."

AUDIT OF STATE ALCOHOL CONTROL OFFICIALS

In the past year, at least 20 states passed laws expanding online sales of alcohol outside of the traditional system of safeguards associated with face- to-face alcohol sales in bars, restaurants and retail stores. While states routinely monitor offline alcohol providers and take enforcement actions when needed, WSWA's audit*** of lead alcohol enforcement officials in all 50 states and the District of Columbia confirms that since 2002:

* 39 states and D.C. did not conduct a single online alcohol compliance

check;

* Six states most likely did not conduct a single online alcohol

compliance check, since they could not recall ever having conducted one;

and

* Only five states conducted isolated online alcohol compliance checks

(none did so regularly). In every case, decoy minors were able to buy

alcohol online easily and with no ID check.

"Allowing alcohol to be sold online and delivered to the home is like inviting a fourteen-year-old to pull up a bar stool anytime he or she surfs the Web," WSWA CEO Juanita D. Duggan said. "This is a dangerous trend that needs to be stopped. Alcohol should not be sold online and state regulators need more resources to be able to enforce their state's alcohol laws, and that includes regular online compliance checks."

BROAD SUPPORT FOR ALCOHOL CONTROLS

A growing number of individuals and organizations are seeking a ban on direct wine and other forms of alcohol sales. The WSWA-affiliated website http://www.pointclickdrink.com has more than 24,000 individual supporters who oppose online alcohol sales. They are joined by a number of safety, medical, law enforcement and religious groups calling for stronger alcohol sales, distribution and access laws.

One such group is the COSHAR Foundation Inc., which is supported by more than 8,500 churches and promotes health education through faith-based initiatives. "States need to act now to stop these kinds of sales and protect the health and welfare of children," COSHAR Foundation Inc. CEO Dr. Sharon Allison-Ottey said. "We must step up our educational and enforcement efforts to keep our youth safe and stop this dangerous trend."

In May of 2005, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on interstate alcohol sales set off a flurry of state legislative activity to pass laws that allow online wine sales.

"Wine industry lobbyists are marching through the states passing laws to gut alcohol controls claiming wine sales should be exempt from traditional safeguards that apply to beer and liquor because kids supposedly don't drink wine. They are wrong," Duggan said. Wine is and has always been alcohol, and this new research confirms that more kids experiment with wine than even beer."

JULY 2006 FEDERAL JUDICIAL FINDING

On July 28, 2006, Maine Magistrate Judge Margaret J. Kravchuk submitted a recommendation to Maine's U.S. District Court to reject an Oregon winery's lawsuit seeking to overturn Maine's ban on unaccountable Internet, mail and phone wine sales.

Kravchuk wrote that, "...wine is an alcoholic beverage that is contraband when placed in certain minors' hands, and the State has concluded that mail order transactions cannot reliably be policed in order to protect certain minors from themselves."

The Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America, Inc. supports this recommended decision, as it exemplifies how a state can comply with last year's Granholm v. Heald Supreme Court ruling and continue to uphold the safeguards that prevent unaccountable alcohol sales.

"This smart legal rationale should encourage other states to comply with the Supreme Court ruling by treating all alcohol producers equally and ensuring none are given preferential treatment to opt out of the state- regulated system of alcohol safeguards," Duggan said.

ONLINE TOBACCO INCONSISTENCY

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer recently led a successful effort by 33 state attorneys general, leading credit card companies and overnight delivery services to ban the sale and delivery of online tobacco products, in part because it was too easy for kids to buy tobacco online.

"State officials and delivery companies talk out of both sides of their mouths when they ban online tobacco sales to protect kids as they embrace online alcohol sales. If we don't trust rushed FedEx and UPS drivers to card kids for cigarette shipments, why on Earth should anyone trust them to card kids for vodka and merlot shipments," Duggan said.

Copies of the complete teen survey and audit of state regulators can be found online at http://www.wswa.org.

*Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU) fielded an online survey from April 3- 11, 2006, and was completed by 1,001 people ages 14-20 (yielding a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points for this sample in total at the 95% confidence level).

**Last name withheld to protect identity.

***In April and May of 2006, WSWA conducted a telephone survey with the lead agency of jurisdiction for regulating state alcohol laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU) is a pioneer in the field of teen research providing quantitative and qualitative data since 1982. TRU offers expertise in the field of social marketing on a diverse range of issues including: tobacco and drug use; underage drinking; sexual assault; life safety; education; crisis management and skin cancer. TRU has conducted research projects for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Partnership for a Drug-Free America, American Medical Association, Centers for Disease Control and the National Safety Council.

WSWA is a national trade association representing the wholesale tier of the wine and spirits industry and supports government policies that ensure sales and deliveries of alcohol are conducted only by those licensed by the state and in compliance with state and federal law. SOURCE Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America, Inc.