mmm online wine
Aug. 10th, 2006 12:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rktTeens not rushing online to buy wine, survey
By Donna Leinwand, USA TODAY
A year after the Supreme Court made it easier for wineries to ship products to customers in a different state, a new survey indicates that teens haven't necessarily rushed to use the Internet to buy alcohol, as critics of the court's decision have feared.
The survey by Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU) in Northbrook, Ill., found that 2% of youths ages 14-20 reported having purchased alcohol online, and that 12% reported having a friend who had ordered alcohol online.
The survey was commissioned by the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, a trade group that opposed the court's decision allowing direct shipments from wineries to customers in different states.
Such bans on interstate sales were part of an alcohol distribution system that has required wineries, breweries and distilleries to sell their products to state-licensed wholesalers, which sell the products to liquor stores. The wholesalers group argued that besides cutting its members out of such sales, the court's ruling allowing interstate sales online made it easier for teens to buy alcohol without having to go through face-to-face transactions that require them to present an ID.
It's unclear how many teens were buying alcohol online before the court's ruling, but the TRU survey suggests such purchases are rare. The survey of 1,001 people ages 14-20 found that nearly all of those surveyed had Internet access at home and that about one-third were aware that alcohol could be purchased online. Fewer than 10% of the youths surveyed said they had browsed a website that sold alcohol. By contrast, 80% reported having browsed a sexually explicit site.
Tom Riley, spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said the survey indicates online alcohol sales to teens aren't a major problem, but he warned that could change. "While online sales of alcohol have not yet been a big part of the addiction problem, parents need to learn what teens already know: that the drug dealer who used to lurk in the seedy side of town is now just an e-mail or a URL away from your home."
However, Juanita Duggan of the wholesalers group called the survey results "shocking" and said she expects the number of teens ordering alcohol online to rise. "This is new, hard evidence that should really shake up this debate about direct sales. Every state has a policy choice to make."
Many states are revisiting their alcohol sales laws to comply with the court's ruling, which said New York and Michigan's bans on interstate sales illegally hindered commerce.
Point A: i love the headline
Point B: i'm not sure if i've know of anyone (underage) who, if they really wanted to get wine, didn't have some form of an Older Person who would do the buying, in person, without the aid of the internet.
Point C: if a *teenager*, living with hir guardian/parent/s purchased from this site, where would they have the shipment sent? i'm guessing that shipping alcohol in plain brown boxes, without return addresses, isn't the norm. consider that a hunch.
Point D: while i actually do believe the core of the story, always be wary of surveys involving teenagers. as a former teen, i can tell you they like to mess with the heads of a-dults. i'm guessing the only reason why that didn't play as much of a factor in this case is because the survey was paid for by people who want to get rid of internet liquor sales.
Point E: your turn.
By Donna Leinwand, USA TODAY
A year after the Supreme Court made it easier for wineries to ship products to customers in a different state, a new survey indicates that teens haven't necessarily rushed to use the Internet to buy alcohol, as critics of the court's decision have feared.
The survey by Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU) in Northbrook, Ill., found that 2% of youths ages 14-20 reported having purchased alcohol online, and that 12% reported having a friend who had ordered alcohol online.
The survey was commissioned by the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, a trade group that opposed the court's decision allowing direct shipments from wineries to customers in different states.
Such bans on interstate sales were part of an alcohol distribution system that has required wineries, breweries and distilleries to sell their products to state-licensed wholesalers, which sell the products to liquor stores. The wholesalers group argued that besides cutting its members out of such sales, the court's ruling allowing interstate sales online made it easier for teens to buy alcohol without having to go through face-to-face transactions that require them to present an ID.
It's unclear how many teens were buying alcohol online before the court's ruling, but the TRU survey suggests such purchases are rare. The survey of 1,001 people ages 14-20 found that nearly all of those surveyed had Internet access at home and that about one-third were aware that alcohol could be purchased online. Fewer than 10% of the youths surveyed said they had browsed a website that sold alcohol. By contrast, 80% reported having browsed a sexually explicit site.
Tom Riley, spokesman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said the survey indicates online alcohol sales to teens aren't a major problem, but he warned that could change. "While online sales of alcohol have not yet been a big part of the addiction problem, parents need to learn what teens already know: that the drug dealer who used to lurk in the seedy side of town is now just an e-mail or a URL away from your home."
However, Juanita Duggan of the wholesalers group called the survey results "shocking" and said she expects the number of teens ordering alcohol online to rise. "This is new, hard evidence that should really shake up this debate about direct sales. Every state has a policy choice to make."
Many states are revisiting their alcohol sales laws to comply with the court's ruling, which said New York and Michigan's bans on interstate sales illegally hindered commerce.
Point A: i love the headline
Point B: i'm not sure if i've know of anyone (underage) who, if they really wanted to get wine, didn't have some form of an Older Person who would do the buying, in person, without the aid of the internet.
Point C: if a *teenager*, living with hir guardian/parent/s purchased from this site, where would they have the shipment sent? i'm guessing that shipping alcohol in plain brown boxes, without return addresses, isn't the norm. consider that a hunch.
Point D: while i actually do believe the core of the story, always be wary of surveys involving teenagers. as a former teen, i can tell you they like to mess with the heads of a-dults. i'm guessing the only reason why that didn't play as much of a factor in this case is because the survey was paid for by people who want to get rid of internet liquor sales.
Point E: your turn.
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no subject
Date: 2006-08-10 01:15 pm (UTC)While your point on teens lying to surveys is well taken, what I'm really much more concerned about are the local homeless in states like NY. Out in the suburbs, the homeless tend to live near liquor stores for the purpose of getting money from teens, who pay them sometimes double or triple the cost of a bottle of alcohol (usually not wine) in order to have such an Older Person make the purchase. If NY were to then have to get rid of it's interstate alcohol trade ban, not only would NY wineries be forced out of business for producing such crap (but which can legally be bought online and for much cheaper than out of state wines) (besides Irish Rose), but the suburban homeless might lose an important source of revenue!
On to serious point that you somewhat addressed above: when ordering wine or beer online, the usual method of shipment are specific FedEx trucks that are temperature regulated. I don't think any wineries or distributors use UPS or USPS or DHL simply because of the risk of being exposed to too high temperatures. FedEx periodically runs temperature controlled trucks, and lemme tell you, the shipping can get quite costly as a result. But FedEx also has a policy that says that all alcohol shipments must be clearly labeled as such, they must be signed for, and the person who does the signing for the package must present ID that shows they're above 21. Otherwise FedEx won't deliver the package. wine.woot.com answered a lot of these concerns a while back in their blog, but I can't find the specific answers. However, they're technically a state-liscened distributor, though they work much more closely with wineries that don't have national distribution.
Gotta go order some Beringer online.