The keg tagging bill proposed by the Michigan state House will do little to deter underage drinking and will only serve to cause problems for those who want to purchase alcohol legally.
Rep. Sandra Caul, R-Mount Pleasant, introduced the bill at the last year. The legislation would require retailers to attach an identification tag to each keg of beer sold. The tag would include the name, address, telephone number and driver’s license number of the purchaser of the keg. The customer would be required to keep the tag attached when returning the keg for the deposit. The store would keep a copy of the information and a signed receipt from the customer.
This legislation will not help to curb underage drinking. Instead of buying kegs, students will purchase bottles and cans for parties. Similar legislation and efforts at a voluntary program have failed before. There is no reason to believe this will be any more successful.
A keg tagging bill introduced by state Sen. Dianne Byrum, D-Onondaga, failed to pass in early 1999. The East Lansing Police Department introduced a voluntary tagging program in 1998, but all participating businesses abandoned the plan about a month after it began.
Previous efforts at keg tagging have failed because they were too easy to get around. By making the tagging voluntary and limiting it to only East Lansing, it was too easy for keg buyers to go to a nonparticipating retailer or simply drive outside of the city to purchase a keg. The new legislation may make more of an impact because it affects the entire state, but it is unlikely to make as strong an impact as lawmakers hope.
This bill is also bad for business.
Local retailers who are forced to use the tags may see a significant drop in sales. The beer industry as a whole may also be affected.
This also adds a liability to stores that sell kegs. The keg can be tracked back to the store just as easily as it can be tracked back to the buyer, opening the door for blame to be laid on the retailer.
On Thursday, ASMSU’s Student Assembly approved a formal objection to the bill or any legislation that would change the process of purchasing a keg.
ASMSU, MSU’s undergraduate student government, should be commended for its stand on the issue and its willingness to make a formal appeal to the state House.
This bill will not just hurt college-age people who wish to buy alcohol legally, it will hurt those who are not in any way affiliated with a college. Those who are buying kegs to serve only of-age drinkers may be unnecessarily targeted. The bill is too reminiscent of Big Brother to truly benefit the people.
This legislation brings about too many problems without offering any guaranteed benefits. Too many of those who are not targeted by this bill will be negatively affected. It does not benefit the businesses who sell kegs in any way, and is not likely to be supported by them.
If the state House wants to curb underage drinking, this is not the way to do it. College students will find a way to drink no matter what the law says.
