ALEXANDRIA, VA – The Center for Alcohol Policy (CAP) is pleased to announce that Joseph H. L. Perez-Montes, an attorney from Pineville, Louisiana, is the winner of its Fifth Annual Essay Contest.  The CAP national essay contest is intended to foster debate, analysis and examination of state alcohol regulation. The topic of the 2012 contest was: “If a country were starting alcohol regulation from scratch, what regulatory framework would you advise it to create and why?”

Perez-Montes’ essay, “Twist the Cork, Pop the Top, and Bottoms Up: Selected Recommendations on Alcohol Regulation from Scratch,” examines the origins of the state-based alcohol regulatory framework that exists in the United States today, compares America’s alcohol regulatory policies to the regulations that exist in other countries and focuses on providing recommendations for minimum drinking age laws as well as civil “dram shop” and criminal liability statutes.

“Realistically, any framework governing the production, sale, and consumption of alcohol must be multi-faceted.  No single regulatory approach could adequately address all of the positive or ill effects of alcohol consumption,” Perez-Montes’ essay states.  “Sustained research on alcohol policy indicates that effective regulation should target numerous areas, including drunk driving policies, alcohol availability measures (such as licensing and minimum drinking age laws), alcohol marketing regulations, community-based prevention strategies, pricing and taxation regulations, and monitoring or surveillance activities.”

CAP Advisory Council member and Samford University Cumberland School of Law Professor Brannon Denning said, “In the United States, it’s important to look at the abuse of alcohol leading up to national Prohibition and the societal issues that arose during Prohibition in order to fully understand the state-based alcohol regulatory system put in place following passage of the 21^st Amendment.  This year’s essay contest gave citizens from across the country the opportunity to study our nation’s alcohol policies and to examine how other countries with different histories and cultures lack such an effective regulatory structure.”

Joseph Ojih, a professor at Baltimore City Community College in Maryland, was named the runner-up.

The winning entrants receive prizes of $5,000 and $2,500 respectively.

To read the winning essays, please visit www.centerforalcoholpolicy.org/essay-contest.

###

 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.

ALEXANDRIA, VA –  Former Michigan Liquor Control Commissioner and former Michigan House of Representatives Floor Leader Pat Gagliardi has authored a new report, “The Need for State Alcohol Regulatory Funding: Fighting Deregulation by Defunding,” made possible by a grant from the Center for Alcohol Policy.

“In repealing Prohibition a national consensus was achieved that alcohol could be sold legally again, but only under state control,” Gagliardi notes in his report. “In crafting alcohol policy today it is imperative that states understand both the history of alcohol regulation and the need for an effective regulatory structure.

“The fervor to cut budgets and anti-regulatory sentiment can lead to ill-considered changes in alcohol policy,” the report continues.  “There is a real danger that state alcohol control will be reduced to the point of ineffectiveness by overburdening the regulatory system that, to date, has been successful and has enjoyed overwhelming public support.”

“I have seen firsthand how law enforcement officers are struggling to do more with less funding and resources,” said Center for Alcohol Policy Advisory Council member Jerry Oliver, former Detroit Chief of Police, former head of the Arizona Liquor Control Commission.   “This report shines some much-needed light on an issue that can have big consequences in communities across the country.”

“The Need for State Alcohol Regulatory Funding: Fighting Deregulation by Defunding” analyzes the number of alcohol enforcement agents in states across the country, their increasing workload and the scope of their duties, as well as the record number of licenses for enforcement agents to monitor.  The report also outlines several suggestions for ways states can seek to increase funding for their alcohol beverage control operations.

“The reality is that smarter and better equipped regulation and enforcement of existing laws can result in increased tax revenue and improved public health and safety,” Gagliardi concludes in his report. “Advocates for retaining a strong state-run alcohol policy understand that sufficient resources must be dedicated to the regulation of alcohol to ensure a fair marketplace as well as reduce substance abuse and to protect the health and safety especially of children.”

For more information about the report, or to arrange an interview with the report’s author, please contact Pat Gagliardi at (517) 420-8860.

 ###

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.