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| 11-11-2003 | Previous edition: 11-10-2003 |
        
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Printer-friendly version Tagging law causes decrease in keg sales, increase in sales of cases of beer
Staff Writer It has been more than a month since the keg-tagging laws have been in effect and one thing is for sure: There has been a large increase in the sales of cases of beer. This challenges one of the main reasons the law went into effect in the first place, to curb underage drinking. According to the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission’s Web site, the keg-tagging law went into effect Sept. 27 and requires all kegs to be tagged with identifying information about the purchaser. Tags are composed on two separate labels, one that stays at the purchase location and another that is placed on the keg. Purchasers must provide information such as their date of birth, name, address, phone number and type of identification. All tags are individually numbered and registered through the local office of the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission. Tammy Loew, alcohol risk reduction coordinator for the Purdue health center, said the law may cause a decline in keg purchases, but it will ultimately protect underage drinkers from overindulging. "What we find is that when people buy kegs, they tend to drink more than when they buy cases of beer," Loew said. Although Loew may be right, some students are going to overindulge whether they are drinking from a keg or not. "I think people may not buy as many kegs, but they’ll still buy equal amounts of beer in cases," said Amy Mahler, senior in the School of Liberal Arts. Others in the area think people are going to buy kegs regardless of the law. Drew Pierson, a West Lafayette resident, said, "I think people are going to buy kegs anyway. If I am at a party I’ll drink the same amount whether it’s out of a can or a keg." Despite this way of thinking, at least three of the four Village Bottle Shoppes in the campus area have noticed a decline in keg purchases. Although keg purchases have gone down, the Shoppes all noted that case sales have gone up and none of these liquor stores think the law is slowing underage drinking. "It’s driven keg sales down a little bit," said Mike Gozo, assistant manager of the Village Bottle Shoppe located at 148 Howard Ave. "It was kind of like that right after the law went into effect, but over (Halloween) weekend, we sold a lot anyway … if they’re gonna want to drink they’ll get (a keg) anyway." Employees at both the other two Bottle Shoppes in the area seem to be in agreement with Gozo. Jason Modesidt, employee at the Bottle Shoppe located at 304 Vine St., said "it’s been big" when referring to the decline in keg sales. Modesidt also noted there has been a noticeably large increase in case sales. He thinks underage drinking will still be prevalent and that "they just buy cases now." Tony Cummins, general manager of the Bottle Shoppe located at 1832 Northwestern Ave., also said that overall keg sales are down and case sales are up. Although none of the Bottle Shoppes' employees could provide exact statistics on the decline of keg sales, all said that on weekend nights especially they notice fewer kegs being rung up and more cases of beer and bottles of liquor being bought. However, Mark Webb, executive secretary for the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, sees the laws in a different light. "The whole idea is to try and limit the sales of kegs to people who are not 21 years of age," he said. "It also allows kegs to be seized." Although the three Village Bottle Shoppes have said case sales have increased, Webb said it’s way too early to tell if the law has been successful in stopping underage drinking. "The question’s going to be to see (how many) kegs are seized and how many underage parties we are going to be able to catch, how many people are getting arrested for the violations," he said. "That’s one facet of determining and it will take a lot of empirical data over a period of time to determine how effective it is." Printer-friendly version |
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