Alcohol regulation belongs with state

The regulatory safeguards Illinois employs to control the production, distribution, sale and consumption of alcohol are under attack. Over the years there has been an orchestrated effort over using the federal courts to chip away at the ability of states to regulate alcohol. We have seen cases in which private interests want to put their own profits over public welfare by using the courts to relax marketplace controls and override the states' ability to regulate alcohol.

Such is the case in Illinois, where a major global brewer is suing the Illinois Liquor Control Commission in order to own 100 percent of its largest distributor in the state. Illinois alcohol regulators are the defendants in this suit. If the plaintiff is successful they would remove the transparency and accountability that is created by the current separation between the manufacturer and distributor.

Alcohol is different from other consumer products, and our state regulatory system has worked to protect Illinois' consumers for decades. Alcohol can be enjoyed as part of a healthy, balanced lifestyle or it can easily be abused by being consumed in excess or by those who are not fit to drink it, like children. Elected state officials in Illinois are best suited to determine where, when and how much alcohol can be sold to its citizens and by whom and state law enforcement officials are best able to enforce the laws that keep drunken drivers off the road, alcohol out of the hands of minors and myriad other common-sense protections.

There are innumerable reasons and tremendous public support for maintaining our alcohol regulatory system, not pulling at various threads to unravel it. When it comes to alcohol, the states are best positioned to serve the interests of our communities.

Don “Doc” Adams

John Kneafsey

Former chairmen

Illinois Liquor Control Commission