POLICY INITIATIVES

Increase the alcohol excise by a dime per drink. 

Alcohol use cost Minnesotans $4.5 billion in 2001 – more than $900 for every person in the state. These costs are 17 times higher than the $260 million collected from alcohol sales in 2004.

• FACTS Coalition:  Facing Alcohol’s Costs to Society

• Impact of increasing the alcohol excise tax on underage drinking

Increase compliance checks.

Alcohol compliance checks are conducted by law enforcement officers to confirm that businesses that sell alcohol are asking for proper ID. Making these checks mandatory and including proper penalties will make it even harder for youth to get their hands on alcohol.

• Fact sheet on compliance checks

No wine in grocery stores.

Minnesota Join Together opposes any effort allowing the sale of wine in grocery stores. Creating more places where youth can easily get their hands on alcohol is a bad idea. We should be making it harder for them to get alcohol – not putting it next to the chocolate milk.

• Counterpoint on the expansion of wine into grocery stores