Who We Are

The Florida Coalition to Prevent Underage Drinking is made up of business leaders, law enforcement agencies, clergy, educators and community groups dedicated to protecting state laws relating to the sale of beer, wine and liquor over the Internet, by phone or through the mail by unlicensed out-of-state companies.

The Coalition supports Florida law requiring that alcohol only be sold through licensed businesses in Florida that can be held accountable for violations.

Why the Coalition is Needed

In recent years, online sellers of beer, wine and spirits have been waging an aggressive campaign to deregulate alcohol sales and allow faceless ordering and delivery across state lines. These sales would be unregulated, unaccountable, and open a new avenue for minors to get alcohol.

The Coalition was created to challenge these efforts to dismantle Florida’s longstanding system of alcohol regulation. The Coalition works to fight efforts to weaken Florida’s proven alcohol distribution system.

What We Believe

We believe that alcohol is different from other products, and that it must be responsibly regulated. We know that today’s youth are at great risk from aggressive Internet marketers selling to computer-savvy teens with lots of time and easy access to credit cards. We believe that Florida’s parents have enough to worry about right now without adding easy Internet ordering of alcohol to the list of concerns. Weakening restrictions on the distribution of alcohol puts our children at risk.

Remote sales and home delivery of alcohol will provide minors with greater access to alcohol. We believe Florida’s current regulatory structure for alcohol works because it holds licensed sellers accountable and ensures that the state collects taxes owed on alcohol products.

If these regulations are eliminated, we are opening the floodgates to unaccountable beer, wine and liquor sales — with no effective regulations to stop those who are selling to minors, avoiding state taxes or disregarding other state laws regulating alcohol.

Accountable alcohol sales are the best way to prevent underage access. We believe that anonymous sales via the Internet, mail order or phone would be harmful to Florida communities, families and businesses