WTNH News Channel 8 / News / 1999

	Buying booze online not as easy in Connecticut (WTNH) _ These days you can buy just about anything online including alcohol. Right now a lot of states are struggling with the problem of kids buying booze online. What about Connecticut? News Channel 8's Darren Kramer reports. This is a problem a lot of states are having. Go Fujisake is an under age college student from Rhode Island. A couple of clicks on his computer and a few days later a bottle of wine is delivered to his college dorm no questions asked. Go Fujisake, Brown University: "I just logged onto the internet, and I just ordered wine." "How easy was it?" "I mean... unbelievable." We wanted to see how easy it would be here in Connecticut to do the same thing. Recently I got on the Internet with some Hartford vice cops and ordered some wine and hard liquor over the Internet. All of the sites we found did ask if you were over 21, and promised that whoever delivered the booze would card you when they got there. We wanted to see if that's really how it works, so we placed some orders. I entered my real home address. They didn't know I worked for a TV station. I gave them my home phone number, drivers license number, and credit card info, and at first it looked like the orders went through. But over the next couple of days, one by one, the companies cancelled my orders. Some sent e-mail. One - liquorbywire.com - even called my house and left this message on my home answering machine. "This product is available at your local liquor stores. They will be able to help you with this order. As such, because we are a gift delivery service, we are going to cancel this order and suggest that you visit your local liquor store for assistance." Why did they all cancel? A little more digging on the Internet turned up the answer. The online liquor industry considers Connecticut one of the most difficult states to deliver to. And why is that? Is it because Connecticut has the most aggressive laws to stop kids from drinking. Not exactly. It's because Connecticut has some of the most aggressive laws to collect tax money. Buying alcohol from out of state takes it out of the tax loop, and the state doesn't like that. James Fleming, Consumer Protection Commissioner: "We worry as a state about collecting taxes on alcohol. So our statutes are designed to make it difficult for somebody not only to purchase on the Internet, but to import alcohol into the state without paying taxes. That's number one." And guess who's pushing for the state law to get even tougher on ordering out of state alcohol via the internet? Not a children's watchdog group. It's the Connecticut liquor wholesalers who want to make out of state Internet liquor sales a felony. One of their lobbyists says the bill is really to protect children. Peter Berdon, Liquor Lobbyist: "It really is principally designed toward protecting the minors of this state from being able to have access to alcoholic products directly from people that they are not seeing face to face." But in fact the bill they are backing makes it illegal for people of any age to buy out of state liquor over the internet. Even though we couldn't find anyone who would sell us liquor online here, that doesn't mean there isn't someone out there somewhere who will sell to your kid. Your best bet is to put your computer in a public room of the house. Know what your kid is doing online, and the internet will be a lot safer place for your family. There are a handful of states that have liquor laws even tougher than Connecticut. About a half dozen states have made it a felony to ship alcohol across state lines. Today's News Page. WTNH Home Page. ©1999 WTNH/WTNH-DT A LIN station.

Buying booze online not as easy in Connecticut
(WTNH) _ These days you can buy just about anything online including alcohol. Right now a lot of states are struggling with the problem of kids buying booze online. What about Connecticut?
News Channel 8's Darren Kramer reports.

This is a problem a lot of states are having. Go Fujisake is an under age college student from Rhode Island. A couple of clicks on his computer and a few days later a bottle of wine is delivered to his college dorm no questions asked.

Go Fujisake, Brown University: "I just logged onto the internet, and I just ordered wine."
"How easy was it?"
"I mean... unbelievable."

We wanted to see how easy it would be here in Connecticut to do the same thing. Recently I got on the Internet with some Hartford vice cops and ordered some wine and hard liquor over the Internet. All of the sites we found did ask if you were over 21, and promised that whoever delivered the booze would card you when they got there. We wanted to see if that's really how it works, so we placed some orders.

I entered my real home address. They didn't know I worked for a TV station. I gave them my home phone number, drivers license number, and credit card info, and at first it looked like the orders went through.

But over the next couple of days, one by one, the companies cancelled my orders. Some sent e-mail. One - liquorbywire.com - even called my house and left this message on my home answering machine.

"This product is available at your local liquor stores. They will be able to help you with this order. As such, because we are a gift delivery service, we are going to cancel this order and suggest that you visit your local liquor store for assistance."

Why did they all cancel? A little more digging on the Internet turned up the answer. The online liquor industry considers Connecticut one of the most difficult states to deliver to. And why is that? Is it because Connecticut has the most aggressive laws to stop kids from drinking. Not exactly. It's because Connecticut has some of the most aggressive laws to collect tax money.

Buying alcohol from out of state takes it out of the tax loop, and the state doesn't like that.

James Fleming, Consumer Protection Commissioner: "We worry as a state about collecting taxes on alcohol. So our statutes are designed to make it difficult for somebody not only to purchase on the Internet, but to import alcohol into the state without paying taxes. That's number one."

And guess who's pushing for the state law to get even tougher on ordering out of state alcohol via the internet? Not a children's watchdog group. It's the Connecticut liquor wholesalers who want to make out of state Internet liquor sales a felony.

One of their lobbyists says the bill is really to protect children.

Peter Berdon, Liquor Lobbyist: "It really is principally designed toward protecting the minors of this state from being able to have access to alcoholic products directly from people that they are not seeing face to face."

But in fact the bill they are backing makes it illegal for people of any age to buy out of state liquor over the internet.

Even though we couldn't find anyone who would sell us liquor online here, that doesn't mean there isn't someone out there somewhere who will sell to your kid. Your best bet is to put your computer in a public room of the house. Know what your kid is doing online, and the internet will be a lot safer place for your family.

There are a handful of states that have liquor laws even tougher than Connecticut. About a half dozen states have made it a felony to ship alcohol across state lines.

Today's News Page.

WTNH Home Page.