Massachusetts, USA: Plan for More Alcohol Outlets
A ballot initiative in Massachusetts, USA is set to lead to an increasing of outlets which can sell alcohol.
The effect of the new ballot initiative would be to
- create, for the first time, a license that would allow food stores to sell wine and beer for off-premises consumption,
- accelerate the rising number of alcohol licenses granted, and
- eventually do away with any limit on the number of licenses for the sale of alcoholic beverages consumed off-premises that any one retailer could own or control.
The proposal – if voted in favor of – will allow more food stores, such as Targets or Walmarts, to sell beer and wine. According to current Massachusetts law, food store companies can only hold 9 alcohol retail licenses in the state of Massachusetts.
The proposal would also require alcohol retailers to adopt specific age-verification measures, and make changes related to staffing and funding at the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission.
Several public health experts testified against this ballot initiative citing evidence that increased alcohol availability leads to rising alcohol consumption and related harm.
Outlet density and alcohol harm
There’s a close relationship between the number and concentration of alcohol outlets and violent crime. CDC estimates about 47% of homicides would not have happened if alcohol had not been in the picture. In Massachusetts, that translates to about 82 deaths a year,” said David Jernigan, a professor studying alcohol policy and public health at Boston University, as per, Boston Globe.
Largely because Massachusetts, and Boston by extension, has limits on the number of outlets, the relationship between alcohol outlets and violent crime is currently much weaker here than it is in many other cities,” Professor Jernigan added.
Considering the example of Baltimore, Maryland, the link between alcohol availability and violent crime can be illustrated well. In Baltimore, each additional alcohol outlet in any neighborhood is associated with a 2.2% increase in violent crime and each additional outlet selling alcohol for off-premises consumption — the type of Massachusetts license that would be affected by the proposed ballot question — is associated with a 4.8% increase in violent crime.
Currently, there is one off-premises alcohol consumption license for every 933 residents in Baltimore, while in Boston there is one for every 2,651 residents. Baltimore is a case example of how violence will increase in Massachusetts if the outlets selling alcohol increase through the new ballot initiative.
Another problem according to Elizabeth Parsons, a substance abuse prevention coordinator at the Mystic Valley Public Health Coalition, was that alcohol consumption, including under-age use, would increase with more availability, fueled by the price competition which would lead to rock bottom prices. She stressed the importance of strong alcohol control to protect young people.
Profit over public health
The lead petitioner for the ballot is the head of public policy for Cumberland Farms.
Cumberland Farms is a regional chain of convenience stores based in Westborough, Massachusetts, operating primarily in New York, New England and Florida. Cumberland Farms operates 566 retail stores, gas stations, and a support system including petroleum and grocery distribution operations in 8 states.
It is obvious the company has vested interests as it will directly benefit from the proposed ballot effort to increase the amount of licenses and finally eliminate any limit on alcohol licenses.
The Package Stores Association has criticized the ballot as an attempt to go around the legislative process “by confusing voters into giving this single company unprecedented control of the retail alcohol marketplace with a potential 200-store network.”
Opponents have characterized the ballot effort as “Frankenstein-like ballot initiative” and called it impermissible because it contained four distinct and unrelated questions:
- Whether beer and wine should be sold at an unlimited number of establishments that sell food?
- Whether any single company should be allowed to control an unlimited number of liquor licenses?
- Whether all people buying beer or wine should be made to present identification?
- Whether some alcohol excise taxes should be diverted to fund the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission?
Represented by former Supreme Judicial Court Justice Robert Cordy, the association claims that Attorney General Maura Healey improperly certified the proposed initiative petition. They have appealed her decision to the SJC in an attempt to keep the question off the 2020 ballot.
The SJC has scheduled oral arguments in the case for April 6 and a ruling from the court is expected sometime in July 2020.
