Reply #6: I couldn't find this when I was looking yesteday. [View All]

[MilesColtrane]

But, it's not federal law. (or is it?)

"Today, specialty wines, beers, ales and lagers are shipped by mail and overnight delivery. Many, however, are sent in violation of a 1935 law that resulted from the 21st Amendment to repeal Prohibition. The law was intended to protect dry counties and gives each state exclusive authority to regulate the flow of alcohol within its borders. Its result: 50 states with 50 varying laws. Direct shipments are illegal in 24 states and regulated to varying degrees in the 26 others. Most states, though, operate under a three- tier system in which alcohol goes through a wholesale distributor and then a retailer before reaching the consumer. Violations were considered misdemeanors -- and states rarely pursued offenders because they had little reach beyond state borders. That changed last year when Kentucky made direct shipment a third- degree felony punishable with jail time and fines up to $20,000. Florida and Georgia passed similar bills this year, and felony legislation was introduced in Arkansas, Hawaii, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, South Carolina, Wisconsin and West Virginia, according to the Wine Institute, a San Francisco trade group that represents more than 400 wineries."

from here...

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4182/is_19970821/ai_n10110673