SALT LAKE CITY — Utah has a reputation as a tough place to get a drink because of its perceived strange or weird alcohol laws.
But a leader of the National Alcoholic Beverage Control Association says the Beehive State hit the “sweet spot” between making beer, wine and spirits available to consumers and protecting public health.
“For those that believe Utah is out of step, for those that believe you’ve gone too far, for those that believe you’re out of balance, they’re wrong,” said Steve Schmidt, the Virginia-based association’s vice president for public policy and communications.
Utah is among 17 states that control wholesale or retail sales of alcoholic beverages. The association provides research, analytics and regulatory information for those states.
Schmidt was among the speakers Friday at the Utah Legislative Alcohol Policy Summit that brought lawmakers, researchers, industry experts and health officials together to talk about liquor laws and trends.
Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, the state Senate’s point person on alcohol law, said in his travels he has come across places more restrictive than Utah and places “wilder” than Utah.
“We’re not an outlier. We’re right in the middle,” he said.
Rep. Tim Hawkes, R-Centerville, Stevenson’s counterpart in the House, said alcohol is a complex area of public policy.
“It’s incumbent on us to try to get it right and strike that balance,” he said.
Utah has the lowest alcohol use and binge drinking for people age 12 and older in the country, Schmidt said. But it also ranks third nationally in revenue from the sale of distilled spirits.
Alcohol law in the state is a constant work in progress, though Stevenson said he doesn’t expect any major changes to come out of the 2020 Utah Legislature.
Two years ago, Utah became the first state in the country to lower the legal limit for driving to .05% blood alcohol content. This year, it allowed stronger beer — up to 4 percent alcohol content by weight — to be sold in grocery and convenience stores starting Nov. 1.
“The only constant in the alcohol industry is change, and griping about regulation,” said Paul Pisano, senior vice president and general counsel for the National Beer Wholesalers Association based in Virginia.
Since 2012, the 50 states have passed 1,923 alcohol-related laws, he said, adding the statehouse is the appropriate place for those policies to be made.
And despite claims to the contrary, alcohol is not the most regulated industry out there, he said.
“Have you tried to open a nuclear power plant lately?” Pisano said.
Americans in general continue to support state regulation of the alcohol industry and are satisfied with the regulations in their state, according to a study by New Bridge Strategy. They want alcohol laws to prioritize public safety over all other aspects, said Lorie Weigel, a principal in the Colorado-based research firm.
The firm’s survey of 1,003 adults nationwide in March found only 14 percent view alcohol laws in their states as too restrictive, while 64 percent see them as just right. Another 12 percent say regulations are too lenient. The survey also showed that 83 percent of Americans support states making their own laws around the sale of beer, wine and liquor.
Driving under the influence was the most serious problem identified by survey respondents, followed by high-risk drinking on college campuses, binge drinking and underage drinking.
Not surprisingly, respondents want lawmakers to prioritize reducing drunk driving, protecting health and safety and reducing underage drinking over all other factors.
Though drinking appears to be down among some age groups, more people are jumping into the alcohol business — federal permits for breweries, distilleries and wineries continue to rise nationally. There are 10,887 breweries nationwide, Pisano said. (As of June, 46 Utah businesses had federal permits, five more than last year.)
The growth brings challenges for policymakers, including how to deal with big retailers like WalMart and Amazon, tainted or counterfeit products, digital marketing and packaging, Schmidt said.
There’s now a race to sell alcohol at zoos and for hairdressers to serve wine, Pisano said. Changes to alcohol policy are often disguised as “consumer friendly” or “economic development,” but are merely efforts to grab more margin, he said.
Despite the influx of products on the market, Pisano said per capita beer consumption is declining and Americans are drinking less alcohol than ever. Schmidt said Millennials and Gen Xers are moving away from alcohol.
But, he said, women, older adults, minorities and impoverished people are drinking more.
“I think we really need to keep an eye on this,” Schmidt said. “This problem is not just a youth problem.”
Katherine Karriker-Jaffe, a senior scientist with the Alcohol Research Group in Emeryville, California, said good public policy can reduce “secondhand harm” associated with heavy drinking. Someone else’s drinking commonly leads to vandalism, violence, drunk driving, family problems and financial stress, she said.
“This is taking a big toll,” Karriker-Jaffe said.