Online sale of alcohol lacks oversight and enforcement
By Guy Page
Editor’s note: an earlier version of this story attributed illegal online sales of liquor to the passage of a pandemic-era law, sponsored by Rep. Matt Birong, allowing curbside delivery. VDC regrets the error.
Vermont’s system of legal online sales of alcohol beverages has led to many illegal, often-underage alcohol sales, a January 2024 Department of Liquor and Lottery report finds.
State law permits online sales and delivery of beer and wine.
The Department of Liquor and Lottery (DLL) has published findings from a Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Shipping Pilot Compliance Program that revealed unlawful purchases and deliveries into Vermont, a DLL statement said. Funded by the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association (NABCA), the pilot program found that of the 116 attempted online purchases of beverage alcohol, 40 shipments were delivered and received by DLL. None of those 40 shipments were delivered completely lawfully. Also:
- 80% of recipients were not carded at time of delivery
- 34% of all attempted purchases were completed
- Two deliveries were handed to minors by common carriers without ID checks
The pilot program was designed in response to the increase in illegal DTC shipping activities in recent years. Results of the pilot program will serve as a baseline survey of lawful shipments of beverage alcohol to consumers in Vermont and will inform DLL of the necessary regulatory framework should DTC shipping of spirits be permitted in Vermont.
Based on established techniques used in ascertaining the illegal DTC sales of tobacco products, DLL developed the pilot compliance program to examine both licensed and unlicensed DTC shipping of beverage alcohol activity in Vermont. This pilot program involved detailed online market-place surveillance to identify retailers purporting to ship beverage alcohol products into Vermont, as well a review of DLL’s licensing database to determine malt and vinous retailers that permitted to engage in DTC sales and shipping.
DLL said it is using the results of the pilot compliance program to educate the public and remind licensees that DTC shipping of beverage alcohol is only lawful when it comports to the following sections of V.S.A. Title 7, 277-281.
The DLL concludes: “[L]awful direct-to-consumer shipping in Vermont is significantly underregulated and would take a significant investment to properly regulate and ensure public safety.”
These alarming findings stress the urgent necessity for strengthened regulation, rigorous oversight, and a bolstered enforcement budget to supervise DTC shipments and shield consumers from associated public health and safety concerns, the NABCA said.