As a former chief of staff to Maryland’s comptroller and as the first chairman of the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, I was pleased to testify in Annapolis recently on behalf of House Bill 847. This important legislation, sponsored by Del. Marlon Amprey, would permit beer and wine to be sold in Maryland grocery stores.
Based both on my professional experience and my personal observations as 20-year resident of Talbot County — the one jurisdiction where this is legal — we can safely conclude there are two things this bill would do and three things it would not.
It will provide immeasurable convenience for consumers who lead hectic lives, which is why more than 80% of Marylanders in a recent poll supported the reform.
It will provide much-needed economic sustenance for grocery stores that provide good-paying jobs, reinvest in our communities and are now fighting to stave off the threat posed by online retailers.
It will not put the local, independent retailers — colloquially known as the “mom and pops” — out of business. Experience here and elsewhere has shown that the big box retailers tend to stock the most popular, mass-produced brands and leave it to the local package stores to sell craft beer, boutique wines and locally sourced products. Furthermore, our package stores will still have exclusive domain over the sale of distilled spirits. Finally, the “mom and pops” offer a level of customer service and subject matter expertise that the grocery stores just cannot match.
It would not increase underage consumption of alcohol. In more than two decades of shopping in Talbot County grocery stores, not once have I witnessed an adolescent or teen try to sneak out of Aisle 9 with ill-gained IPAs or bottles of Merlot. In fact, one can argue that grocery stores — equipped as they are with multiple cameras, secured storefront doors and other theft prevention devices — are better suited to prevent unauthorized access and theft than the independent stores.
Finally, this will not lead to alcoholism, substance abuse, vehicle fatalities and other dire outcomes cited by the Annapolis lobbyists who are hired to kill this bill every year. Their hypothetical scenarios and apocryphal anecdotes are simply not reflected in the data.
Forty-seven other states already have this measure in place. It’s time that Maryland join the 21st century and pass this bill into law. Consumers win and our state’s economy will be stronger as a result.
— Len Foxwell, Baltimore
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