April 20, 2022 Vol. 15

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The National Liquor Law Enforcement Association (NLLEA) is a non-profit association

of law enforcement personnel dedicated to the enforcement of liquor laws and regulations.

Conference Registration and Hotel Booking are Now Available

Registration is $500.00 for members and $650.00 for non-members

You must be logged-in to the NLLEA website to access membership registration

Hotel Accomodations for NLLEA Guests is $149.00/night

NLLEA Conference is a professional law enforcement event, open to NLLEA members, qualified non-members and exhibitors

Click Here to Register for the 2022 NLLEA Conference

SUBMIT YOUR AWARD NOMINATIONS

DUE APRIL 30, 2022

National Liquor Law Enforcement Association

The NLLEA Awards recognize leaders and outstanding programs in the field of alcohol law enforcement. Annual awards are given in the following four categories: Alcohol Law Enforcement Agency of the Year, Alcohol Law Enforcement Agent of the Year, Innovative Alcohol Law Enforcement Program of the Year, and the John W. Britt Community Service Award. For more information on each award, visit the awards page at nllea.org. 

The deadline for receiving nominations is April 30, 2022. Please email this document along with any supporting documentation to carrie.christofes@nllea.org. You should receive an email confirmation of your submission within 48 hours. If you do not receive an email receipt confirmation, please call 724-762-5939 to confirm receipt of the nomination.

Sergeant-at-Arms Nominations

The National Liquor Law Enforcement Association (NLLEA) Executive Board is seeking self-nominations for the 2022 Sergeant-at-Arms position for the Board. This is a volunteer position. Elections will be held during the Business Meeting at the 35th Annual NLLEA Conference being held September 26-28 at the Sheraton Hotel Station Square in Pittsburgh, PA.  CLICK HERE FOR THE APPLICATION INFORMATION


JOB POSTINGS


North Carolina Department of Public Safety

Alcohol Law Enforcement Careers

Application window closes on April 29th




CLICK HERE FOR ALE POSITIONS AVAILABLE

Beverage Alcohol Law Alliance Formed to Navigate Emerging Retail Policy Priorities, Announces Leadership Team

Retailers form strategic alliance to raise the bar for compliant e-commerce and alcohol policy

Rapid e-commerce evolution in the beverage alcohol retail tier has inspired a coalition of retailers and e-commerce solution providers to join forces to navigate the complex public policy priorities specific to retailers and third-party providers with the formation of The Beverage Alcohol Law Alliance (BALA).

With beverage alcohol e-commerce sales experiencing exponential growth in recent years and that trend expected to accelerate, policy leadership in the retail industry is a pressing necessity. 

Founded in December of 2021, BALA will serve this need as a resource for industry leaders to define best practices in beverage alcohol retail e-commerce and to help shape regulatory policy based upon the same. 

Understanding that compliance with the states’ three-tier framework is critical to any successful policy initiative, BALA is helmed by industry veterans Anne Junia and Harlan Powell of Chicago-based Powell Junia P.C., and Heather Calio, former Senior Director of State Affairs for the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America. Powell and Junia bring over 30 years of beverage alcohol-specific legal experience and will serve as BALA’s General Counsel, while Calio brings a keen understanding of alcohol policy and strategy and will drive BALA initiatives forward as President and CEO. 

Says Calio, “BALA’s mission is to be the unified voice for beverage alcohol industry leaders in pursuit of an efficient marketplace, innovative sales strategies, and modern delivery options. We recognize the industry needs a common-sense approach to the country’s alcohol beverage laws. The Alliance will work within the framework of the industry’s three-tier regulatory system using education, engagement, and advocacy to foster responsible business practices and sound policy solutions.”

BALA looks forward to partnering with a diverse group of industry voices. Parties interested in joining the discussion are encouraged to contact info@bevgs.org for more information.

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OK-Alcohol compliance checks aim to keep alcohol out of the hands of Carter County teens

This prom season, the Carter County Substance Abuse Prevention Committee (CCSAPC), Alcoholic Beverages Law Enforcement (ABLE), and local law enforcement, such as the Ardmore Police Department and the Lone Grove Police Department, are taking measures to keep alcohol out of the hands of our youth. According to the 2019-2020 Oklahoma Prevention Needs Assessment survey, 73.3% of Carter County 12th grade students said if they wanted to get alcohol it would be sort of or very easy to get. To reduce the number of students that can obtain alcohol through retail establishments during this time of year, Alcohol Compliance Checks were completed in several Carter County towns.

Alcohol Compliance Checks are part of a statewide initiative where underage individuals visit alcohol retailers and attempt to purchase alcohol. If the youth can complete the transaction, the alcohol is passed to authorities. The store and clerk are then cited for the sale to the underage buyer, including any criminal charges that may apply.

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Vermont Continues Its Crackdown on Online ENDS Sellers

Last year we reported that Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan’s office settled with several online sellers over alleged violations of the state’s delivery sales ban of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) (the Delivery Sale Ban) and that we expected Vermont’s scrutiny to continue. As predicted, Attorney General Donovan’s office recently announced two more settlements with online sellers, resulting in a total of 23 settlements with online ENDS sellers for a total of $833,750 in civil penalties dating back to December 2020.

Vermont’s law, which became effective on July 1, 2019, bans the online sale and shipment of cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco, little cigars, snuff, tobacco substitutes, substances containing nicotine or otherwise intended for use with a tobacco substitute, or tobacco paraphernalia. Tobacco substitute and/or substances containing nicotine include ENDS. The Delivery Sale Ban does not apply to premium cigars (defined as cigars weighing more than 4.5 pounds per 1,000).

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AGA urges DoJ to crack down on illegal online sportsbooks and casinos, “skill game” machines

The American Gaming Association (AGA) has called on the U.S. Department of Justice to crack down on illegal, online sportsbooks and casinos and unregulated “skill game” machines in a new letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland.

“While the challenge of illegal gambling is not new, the brazen and coordinated manner in which it occurs—both online and in communities—has elevated this problem to a level that requires significant federal attention,” AGA President and CEO Bill Miller wrote in a letter Wednesday, April 13. “We urge the Department to make it a priority to act… to protect American consumers, crack down on illegal operators, and enforce federal regulations.”  

The AGA letter outlines the "pervasive nature" of illegal gambling and the threat these unregulated operators pose to consumers, state economies and the legal gaming industry as part of the association’s ongoing initiative to stamp out the illegal market.

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360training Expands Alcohol Training With The Addition Of 11 TIPS Courses Including California RBS

TIPS is launching its newly approved California Responsible Beverage Server course. While previous TIPS courses have been approved by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), this updated course specifically satisfies The Responsible Beverage Service Training Act (AB 1221), which requires RBS training for on-premise licensees, managers, and alcohol servers.

The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) designed these new regulations to reduce the risks of harm from alcohol in California communities. The course helps ensure that anyone who serves alcohol understands the dangers of underage drinking and over-serving intoxicated customers. It is required by August 31, 2022.

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Avalara : New York allows to-go cocktails for 3 years

Cocktails to go permanently allowed in 18 states and counting

Proponents of cocktails to go have three years to advocate for permanently extending New York’s temporary provision. There’s strong support for takeout and delivery alcohol sales — close to 80% of New Yorkers are in favor of takeaway drinks — but not everyone thinks it’s a smart move. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) warns to-go cocktails could increase rates of impaired driving. Furthermore, the liquor store industry worries cocktails to go will “threaten the livelihood of thousands in our industry.”

New York is one of many states interested in permanently legalizing cocktails to go, and close to 20 states already have. According to DISCUS:

  • 35 states temporarily allowed restaurants and/or bars to sell alcohol to go during the worst of the pandemic, via executive order or other temporary measure
  • 18 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws making those provisions permanent: Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Iowa, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia
  • 13 states have passed laws extending temporary provisions: California (expires December 31, 2026), Colorado (expires July 1, 2025), Connecticut (expires June 4, 2024), Illinois (expires January 3, 2024), Maine (expires March 30, 2025), Maryland (local option – expires June 30, 2023), Massachusetts (expires April 1, 2023), Michigan (expires December 31, 2025), New York, Tennessee (expires July 1, 2023), Vermont (expires July 1, 2023), Virginia (expires July 1, 2024) and Washington (expires July 1, 2023)

Virginia’s temporary provision was set to sunset on July 1, 2022, but the recent enactment of Senate Bill 254 gives restaurants and bars two more years of takeout and delivery privileges.

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Baltimore PD to Hire First-in-Nation Civilian Investigators

The Baltimore Police Department plans to become one of the first law enforcement agencies in the nation to hire civilians to investigate low-level crimes, internal affairs complaints and cold cases.

Baltimore will set “a standard for staffing allocations in law enforcement agencies across the country,” which have struggled with hiring and retention, Mayor Brandon Scott said at a news conference Thursday at police headquarters. “This will free up our sworn detectives to better meet the needs of our residents by being out on our streets, deterring and solving crimes,” Scott said.

He and Police Commissioner Michael Harrison provided new details on plans to hire 35 civilian investigators this year, which is included in the mayor’s proposed $4 billion city budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

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Interview: Alcohol Law Attorney Rachel Lawson On Direct To Consumer Shipping Laws

In a recent report, the U.S. Treasury Department observed two major trends in the alcohol industry … the explosion of craft producers of wine, beer and spirits the past 30 years and a concerning level of consolidation in the wholesale and production levels of the system.

What does that mean? It means there’s a concern industry-wide regarding competition in the markets for beer, wine and spirits. More specifically, how do the little guys make it in this business?

At the heart of the conversation is direct-to-consumer shipping of alcohol. Kentucky is fighting for its right, along with a few other states.

The Treasury concluded that many federal and state laws regulating industry relationships are   outdated. Specifically, “franchise laws” and the “three-tier system” were written in the 1930s to combat the problems Americans faced in the late 1800s through the end of prohibition.

Many have found these laws are ill-equipped to handle many of the practical business realities that alcohol industry members face today, especially the shipping of alcohol directly to consumers.

And there’s growing concern that larger players at all levels of the industry (such as producers and wholesalers) could use outdated regulations to stifle the growth of smaller “craft” producers.

The Whiskey Wash recently visited with Alcohol and Hospitality Lawyer Rachel Schaffer Lawson, and Law Clerk Jacob White, with the firm Dickinson Wright. Together, they discussed the nature of the Treasury’s report and what the future holds for direct-to-consumer shipping of alcohol and the laws therein.

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Alcohol and the Adolescent Brain: What We’ve Learned and Where the Data Are Taking Us

The past 50 years of research supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) have resulted in an accumulation of invaluable data to address the multifaceted problems surrounding underage drinking. Youth use of alcohol remains a pervasive social and public health concern in the United States and a leading cause of disability and mortality during adolescence.1,2 Alcohol use in adolescence has a distinct pattern from adult drinking, whereby adolescents may have fewer drinking occasions but consume relatively high levels per occasion, referred to as binge or heavy episodic drinking and defined as consuming four or more standard ethanol consumption units on an occasion for females and five or more for males.3-5 Highly prevalent among youth in Western countries is an intermittent pattern of heavy alcohol consumption that typically is associated with social leisure occasions on weekend nights.6 Moreover, adolescent alcohol use, along with smoking and illicit drug use, has undergone changes in prevalence and patterns in recent decades. For example, alcohol use peaked in the mid-1990s, with approximately 50% of 12th graders reporting past-month alcohol use, followed by a steady long-term decline to 30% in 2018. In 2020, the downward trend reversed course, with 34% of 12th graders reporting past-month alcohol use.1 Recent reports indicate that prevalence estimates for 2021 will need to account for impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic on underage substance use behavior and availability.7

High-risk alcohol consumption patterns and associated problems alone increase risk for adverse outcomes—such as motor vehicle accidents, high-risk sexual behaviors, other illicit substance use, and mental health challenges—for adolescents who drink. These risks are further compounded by the fact that adolescence is a period of crucial brain development and maturation.8,9 Neuroimaging studies have provided clear evidence that the brain (a) continues to develop throughout adolescence and into adulthood, and (b) undergoes important structural and functional changes in synaptic plasticity and neural connectivity during adolescence.10,11 These changes and the enormous plasticity of the teen brain make adolescence a time of both great risk and great opportunity.11

This article begins with an overview of typical adolescent brain development, followed by a summary of four key themes in the current understanding of alcohol and the adolescent brain: (1) predictors of underage drinking; (2) consequences of alcohol on adolescent brain structure and function; (3) moderating and confounding factors, including age of onset, sex disparities, family history, co-use of other substances, and mental health comorbidities; and (4) reversibility of and recovery from alcohol misuse. The article concludes with a discussion of where the data lead us to reach the next milestones in NIAAA-supported research.

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If you have Alcohol Law Enforcement news to share please send it to Carrie Christofes, Executive Director carrie.christofes@nllea.org

2021-22 NLLEA Board Members:

Todd Merlina, President - PA - tmerlina@pa.gov

Thomas Kirby, Vice President - VA - thomas.kirby@virginiaabc.com

Israel Morrow, Secretary/Treasurer - NC - israel.morrow@ncdps.gov

Jim Diana, Sergeant at Arms - DE -james.diana@delaware.gov

John Yeomans, President - DE - john.yeomans@delaware.gov

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