Line between alcoholic, non-alcoholic drinks blurred, lawmakers told
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By DANIEL BARLOW Vermont Press Bureau - Published: February 5, 2009
MONTPELIER – Can you tell them apart?
Sitting side-by-side on a Statehouse committee room table, many of the drinks look alike. They all have flashy designs, bright colors, big logos and contain ingredients ranging from ginseng to lemonade.
But some also contain alcohol. Others don't.
"I don't think people realize just how much the alcohol industry has blurred the lines between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages," said Carol Rose, the founder of the Vermont Teen Leadership Safety Program. "It's happening now under our noses. We didn't see it. No one saw it."
Those concerned with substance abuse, concerned parents and straight-edge teenagers urged the Vermont Legislature on Wednesday to change state law to push many of these alcoholic beverages – which often resemble well-known fruit and energy drinks – into state-owned liquor stores.
Advocates said these drinks – they singled out popular items such as Mike's Hard Lemonade and Bacardi Breezer – can easily be found in most corner stores across Vermont and are sometimes racked right next to their non-alcoholic cousins.
Sandy Yandow, a representative from the organization Families of Addiction Consulting for Effective Services, told lawmakers Wednesday that the alcoholic drinks now fall under the federal category of malt beverages, allowing them to be sold in traditional stores.
But she said these drinks – commonly called "alcopops" – should be classified as spirits, which can only be sold through state-owned liquor stores. Otherwise, these drinks are in direct view and reach of teenagers and children, who can mistake them for their softer variations.
"I've heard these stories over and over again," Yandow said. "Someone walks into a store to buy an energy drink and doesn't realize that what they purchased has alcohol in it."
The Vermont Department of Liquor Control released a report last month stating that flavored malt beverages and alcoholic energy drinks don't fit neatly into any of the existing categories of alcohol. They suggested that lawmakers should invent a new one.
The four-page report, which was mandated by the Vermont Legislature last year, also suggests that the state should have more regulatory authority over the sale, taxation and marketing of these drinks. It also recommends that they be separated from similar, non-alcoholic drinks at stores.
Rep. Diane Lanpher, D-Vergennes, announced Wednesday that she is sponsoring a bill that would reclassify these drinks as spirits – sending them to the state's liquor stores as the only outlet that would sell them. Her bill would also allow state liquor control officials to regulate the products' marketing and sale.
"These drinks appeal directly to young people and lead to increases in underage drinking," Lanpher said, adding that the alcohol industry spends $4.5 billion a year marketing its products.
Jim Harrison, the president of the Vermont Grocers' Association, opposes the change. He said Vermont has similar regulations of these drinks as nearly every other state in the country and the sale of the flavored malt beverages is nothing new.
He said store owners have a legal obligation not to sell alcoholic beverages to anyone under the age of 21 — and strong fines for violating that law helps motivate clerks and store owners to ensure that the drinks are sold only to those who can legally buy them.
"Everyone has different tastes and these drinks are a reflection of that," Harrison said. "Budweiser has a new Bud Lime drink that I enjoy … is that a flavored malt beverage too?"
But according to several youths at Wednesday's press conference to highlight concerns over the drinks, telling the difference between an alcoholic drink and a non-alcoholic one is sometimes very difficult.
Maia Menzel, a student at Montpelier High School, said she has seen the alcoholic drinks racked right next to non-alcoholic ones in stores. Sometimes cashiers don't even know the difference, she said, unless the item is already programmed to ring up as an alcoholic drink in its scanning system.
"They don't taste hard," Menzel said. "From what I hear, they go down really easy. That's one of the reasons they call them alco-pops … because they resemble soda."
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee attended the press conference and were asked to judge which of the drinks on display contained alcohol. Most lawmakers – after closely inspecting the labels – identified which bottles were hard and which ones were soft.
"I think we passed the test, but I can understand what the problems are," said Sen. Richard Sears, D-Bennington.
Contact Daniel Barlow at Daniel.Barlow@timesargus.com.
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