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Friday, June 11, 2010

Ind. Law - "Legislator who created ID bill regarding alcohol now wants the law changed"

Kristin Bell reports today in the South Bend Tribune:

MISHAWAKA — A new law taking effect on July 1 could be changed again when lawmakers return in January.

Starting in July, no matter how old you are, you will be carded. Whether you are 22 or 82, you will have to show ID to purchase alcohol in Indiana.

The law will apply to any store selling "carryout" alcohol — that means liquor stores, convenience stores, and supermarkets. But the creator of the law says that is not how he wanted the law to work.

State Sen. Ron Alting of Lafayette originally drafted a bill to allow microbreweries to sell carryout on Sundays. The law was changed in committee and, among other things, requires clerks to check everyone's ID.

Now Alting says he looks forward to changing it back.

"The intent was you only card for carryout — anyone that looks age 50 or less," Alting said in a phone interview with WSBT.

Much to the surprise of Alting, there has been a lot of support for the law. In fact, many stores have already implemented the policy, even though the law doesn't go into effect until July. Most hope it will cut down on alcohol sales to minors, by making ID checks routine.

"If you want to get alcohol, show your ID. That way there is no guess,” said Sgt. Regis Thimons with the St. Joseph County Sheriff's Department.

"What it is going to prevent is a sale being made to a 19-year-old who may look 26 or 27," said Scot Imus, executive director of the Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association (IPCA).

Imus cites a two-year undercover study by the Alcohol Tobacco Commission that found a 35 percent failure rate when it came to selling alcohol to minors in Indiana. He says that is why many of the IPCA member businesses voluntarily began carding every customer. Now, this new law will reinforce what Imus says businesses are already doing.

"We would hope that people understand that the few seconds it takes to show a clerk an ID is going to be well worth it if it prevents just one instance of alcohol winding up in the wrong hands," Imus said.

But not everyone agrees. State Rep. Ryan Dvorak voted against the law because he says the ID provision didn't make sense and was drafted poorly.

The 2010 law is SEA 75.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 11, 2010 10:40 AM
Posted to Indiana Law