Massachusetts steps up DTC age compliance enforcement

If you ship wine directly to consumers (DTC) in Massachusetts, now would be a good time to confirm you’ve taken all the necessary steps to prevent the sale or delivery of alcohol to minors. The Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC) is conducting Minimum Purchase Age Compliance Checks on direct wine shipper licensees through September 30, 2022.

Carol Martel, Wine Institute’s Northeastern Counsel, warns that wineries should be extremely vigilant about age verification as noncompliance could place the entire Massachusetts DTC program in peril.

NC-Burlington Shooting Prompts ALE Investigation, Cancellation of ABC Permits

A Burlington event center is without ABC permits and four employees criminally charged after two patrons were shot inside the business. 

On Sunday, June 5, ALE was notified of the shooting inside Mamba Event Center, 2371 Corporation Parkway in Burlington, and immediately began investigating the incident.

Through the course of the investigation, ALE special agents found the permittee, Octavis Davis, 35, of Winston-Salem, failed to superintend the business and allowed disorderly conduct to occur on the licensed premises on June 5. Special agents also discovered the three security guards, Benjamin Knight II, 50, of Greensboro, Tavarius Jauan Liandre Miller, 25, of Winston-Salem, and Daiquan Controll Monk, 23, of Bayboro, were each performing armed security without a license the night of the shooting.

The permittee and security guards were all criminally charged.

Legal Battles Over Skill Games Continue Across PA; Pace-O-Matic Files Lawsuit Against Gaming Regulators and Liquor Control Enforcement

Unlicensed “skill games” continue to spread across Pennsylvania. Since they exist in gray legal areas, the games have caused numerous issues with a number of stakeholders, including: law enforcement, PA casinos who say are siphoning business without paying the proper taxes, and local businesses that depend on them for revenue.

In May, there were two separate instances where PA county courts ruled that the “skill games” were wrongfully seized during raids and must be returned.

Why Alcohol is No Ordinary Commodity

By Pamela Erickson

Periodically we need to be reminded about alcohol and why it’s not just an ordinary commodity. There’s a lot of talk about expanding the availability of alcohol because it’s a “legal product.” And, grocery and convenience stores increasingly treat alcohol as just another product. There is a whole new array of alcohol products such as hard seltzers and canned cocktails. These products have been promoted heavily and touted as a good “summer drink.”

Inside America's dark history of deadly hazing: Fraternity initiation rituals have killed nearly 500 college students since 1838 through alcohol poisoning, drunk driving, beatings and fatal pranks

America has a long, dark history of college hazing that has seen nearly 300 young students die in accidents while being initiated into Greek life. The latest incident to shock the country was the October 2021 hazing of Danny Santulli, a 19-year-old who survived severe alcohol poisoning but is now blind and wheelchair-ridden as a result of it. Danny's family's lawyer, David Bianchi, described it as the worst case of hazing injury the country has ever seen.  'You can't be more injured and still be alive,' he told DailyMail.com this week after filing a lawsuit against two of the frat boys involved. While Danny survived, more than 200 other kids have not. 

There is no official database for hazing deaths or injuries thanks largely to the blanket of secrecy that is immediately thrown on incidents by universities, fraternities and sororities. 

NJ-Ocean City Looks to Stop Rowdy Teens

Ocean City is dealing with an escalation of underage drinking and fighting by rowdy groups of teenagers that have turned some stretches of the beach into their own personal “nightclub.”

“The crowds are larger than last year, the kids are drinking more than last year and there is more fighting than last year,” Police Chief Jay Prettyman said.

The plan so far is to keep the partying teenagers on the beaches rather than having them spill out onto the family-friendly Boardwalk, where they could do even more damage, city officials say.

Prettyman declined to discuss specific details of the police department’s strategy for dealing with outbursts of disruptive behavior, but he emphasized that there are more officers patrolling the Boardwalk now than ever before.

“We are constantly re-evaluating our deployment of staff on the Boardwalk,” he said in an interview.

Coca-Cola plans to press on with alcoholic beverage ‘experiments’

Coca-Cola has dipped its toe in the alcohol beverage industry of late, signing deals with both Molson Coors and Constellation Brands over the last couple of years. It’s an avenue the drinks giant intends to continue exploring, according to chairman and CEO James Robert B. Quincey. 

Speaking at the Sanford C. Bernstein Strategic Decisions conference last week, Mr Quincey said that Coca-Cola will continue what he described as its “experiments” in the alcohol beverage industry, with an eye on whether it could establish any of these further.

“We have not reached that stage yet, but the experiments are interesting,” he revealed.

Among these experiments are a partnership with beer giant Molson Coors, with whom it previously launched Top Chico Hard Seltzer. Earlier this year, Coca-Cola and Molson Coors teamed up once more, announcing the launch of a range of 5% ABV, RTD spiked lemonade expressions under Coca-Cola’s Simply brand.

The soft drinks giant also has a range of spirits-based ready-to-drink canned cocktails in the works with Constellation Brands, which is set to launch later this year.

Mr Quincey noted the industry’s attractive margins when explaining why Coca-Cola is exploring the space, adding “It’s largely ingredients we buy anyway, cans, water, lemons, we only needed to buy the alcohol”.

Beer distributor Fabiano Brothers’ delivery driver pleads to embezzling $45,000

A week before his trial was to begin, an Essexville man accused of embezzling a five-figure sum from Michigan’s largest beer wholesaler accepted a plea deal.

Daniel J. Fabera, 34, on June 1 appeared before Bay County Circuit Judge Harry P. Gill and pleaded no contest to the lone count he faced — embezzlement by an agent or trustee between $20,000 and $50,000. The charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine triple the value of what was stolen.