Center for Alcohol Policy Essay Contest Winners Discuss Origin of Modern Alcohol Policies at National Meeting of Alcohol Regulators

ALEXANDRIA, VA – Winners of the Center for Alcohol Policy (CAP) Fourth Annual Essay Contest addressed the National Conference of State Liquor Administrators, Inc. (NCSLA) annual meeting and conference today in Washington, D.C.  They spoke to attendees as part of a panel titled “Now That Alcohol Is Legal Again- How Should It Be Regulated? Toward Liquor Control 79 Years Later,” moderated by Executive Director of the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission Hobert Rupe.

The panel followed a keynote address by Daniel Okrent, author of Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, who provided a historical reflection on America’s experience with Prohibition.  The panelists included Laura Napoli, an attorney from New York, New York; Ryan Lozar, an attorney from San Diego, California; Jeremy Carp, a student at Macalester College; and Ashley Watkins, a law student at Duke University.  Each of their winning essays, which were distributed to attendees, addressed the CAP 2011 Essay Contest topic: The Importance of Toward Liquor Control to Modern Alcohol Policy.

Toward Liquor Control is the result of a study commissioned by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. in 1933, which provided a blueprint for states to follow when determining their alcohol regulatory systems following Prohibition.  The CAP republished the book in 2011 to provide those interested in effective state-based alcohol regulation with a historical perspective and an understanding of why the system remains important today.  The original meetings of NCSLA brought the theories of Toward Liquor Control to life.

“Toward Liquor Control provides an interesting historical perspective but also a blueprint for what’s in place today,” Napoli said.

Lozar emphasized that the goal of Toward Liquor Control was to address public health and industry regulation, while Carp said that Rockefeller’s goal in commissioning the study was to promote social control and respect for the law.

Referencing the book’s continued relevance today, Watkins added, “Toward Liquor Control should be used by the courts to understand the value of a comprehensive state regulatory system and states’ rights.”

The book Toward Liquor Control can be purchased online at www.centerforalcoholpolicy.org.  It is also available as an iBook through Apple’s iBookstore, a NOOK book from Barnes and Noble and other popular e-book formats.

Each year, the CAP Essay Contest is intended to foster debate, analysis and examination of state alcohol regulation and its implications for citizens across the United States.  For details about the 2012 CAP Essay Contest, please visit www.centerforalcoholpolicy.org/essay-contest.

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The Center for Alcohol Policy is a 501 c (3) organization whose mission is to educate policy makers, regulators and the public about alcohol, its uniqueness and regulation.  By conducting sound and scientific-based research and implementing initiatives that will maintain the appropriate state-based regulation of alcohol, the Center promotes safe and responsible consumption, fights underage drinking and drunk driving and informs key entities about the effects of alcohol consumption.  For more information, visit www.centerforalcoholpolicy.org or follow the Center on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AlcoholPolicy.