As the past chief of staff for the Maryland’s comptroller and first chairman of the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, I recently testified in favor of House Bill 847 in Annapolis. This significant bill, proposed by Del. Marlon Amprey, aims to allow the sale of beer and wine in grocery stores across Maryland.

As a result of my professional exposure and personal insights gathered over 20 years of residence in Talbot County – the only jurisdiction where it’s currently legal – I can confidently outline two expected impacts and three misconceptions related to this bill.

Firstly, this bill will undeniably offer immense convenience for consumers with busy schedules. This is evident as more than 80% of inhabitants in a recent Maryland poll were in support of this change.

Secondly, it will provide a crucial economic boost for grocery stores. These businesses, which generate good-paying jobs and reinvest in our communities, are struggling to withstand the challenge posed by e-commerce retailers.

Local independent retailers, often referred to as “mom and pops”, won’t be driven out of business. It has been observed time and again that large chain stores focus on supplying popular, mass-made brands, leaving niche products such as craft beers, boutique wines, and local specialties to local package stores. Moreover, these local stores will still maintain exclusive rights to the sale of distilled spirits. They also excel in providing superior customer service and specialized knowledge that supermarkets simply cannot compete with.

The proposal will not result in an increase in underage alcohol consumption. In my over two decades of frequenting Talbot County’s grocery stores, I have never witnessed a young teenager attempting to shoplift IPAs or Merlot wine bottles. Arguably, supermarkets, with their numerous surveillance cameras and theft prevention mechanisms, are better equipped to prevent unauthorized access and theft than independent retailers are.

The outcome of this change won’t be an increase in alcoholism, substance abuse, vehicle fatalities, or any other catastrophic implications as claimed by Annapolis lobbyists who aim to quash this bill every year. Their conjectured scenarios and unverifiable stories find no support in actual data.

Already, forty-seven other states have implemented this measure. It’s high time that Maryland steps into the 21st century and enacts this bill into law as well. The adoption of this law would be a win for consumers and it would in turn bolster our state’s economy.

— Len Foxwell, Baltimore

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