You may think we are living in the 21st century, but the effects of the 20th century’s Prohibition laws live on today. Saturday was the 90th anniversary of Prohibition’s enactment – January 16, 1920 – with the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution, so I thought I would provide a link for those interested in reviewing its history (thanks to Wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition_in_the_United_States. To quote Laurence Tribe, the great Harvard legal scholar, “The Eighteenth Amendment, it should be said, is nearly everybody’s prime example of a constitutionally dumb idea.”
For those who did not see it, Dave McIntyre of the Washington Post wrote an article yesterday entitled “Why Maryland consumers can’t buy wine online” in which he says:
“Direct shipping will not be the end of the traditional three-tier system of winery-wholesaler-retailer. Consumers will still buy most of their wine in stores, where they can taste a sample before investing, benefit from the advice of a trusted retailer and return the occasional off bottle. But direct shipping will allow consumers access to the variety of wines available. It will benefit consumers. It will benefit the Maryland wine industry. And it will benefit Maryland. It’s time to pass this law.”
We couldn’t agree more! Please be sure to forward the following petition link to your friends and neighbors so we can represent their interests before their elected officials and follow Dave McIntyre’s advice:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/maryland-consumer-direct-ship-petition
We have over 1,200 people signed up on our way to 10,000 and need as many as possible from different districts. Feel free to personalize your comments. There are some real zingers!
Tastefully yours,
Adam Borden
Executive Director
Marylanders for Better Beer & Wine Laws
4315 Underwood Road
Baltimore, MD 21218
Tel: (443) 570-8102
http://www.mbbwl.org
Facebook: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/219249/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mbbwl
MeetUp: http://www.meetup.com/Marylanders-for-Better-Beer-Wine-Laws/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1873279
Donate: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=2184279