The Portland Press Herald / The Maine Sunday Telegram

February 26

State's wine-tasting law smacks of prohibition

— Underage drinking is bad for kids. That said, efforts to shield them from alcohol can go too far. A Maine law enacted last year is a case in point.

As interpreted by law enforcement, it prohibits the tasting of wine, beer or spirits anywhere that it might be witnessed by children under the age of 15. That's forced merchants to try things like covering their shop windows with paper so innocent minors might would be spared a glimpse of adults sniffing the bouquet of a Bordeaux.

One wine store owner testified that he had to tell a customer that he could not come into his store to buy cheese and crackers during a wine tasting because the man was carrying an infant. The extreme implications of this law made Maine an Internet laughing stock on wine-lovers' chat sites and should provide an important lesson about the consequences of legislation.

That children shouldn't drink alcohol is beyond dispute. That it is probably unwise for children to witness adults abuse alcohol makes a lot of sense. But to claim that no child should ever witness any adult drink any amount of alcohol under any circumstances is absurd.

Unlike tobacco products, which are never safe to use and pass on negative second-hand effects, beer, wine and spirits are products that can be used responsibly in company with non-drinkers of all ages. Laws that prevent youngsters from imbibing should be strictly enforced, but ones that prevent them from seeing responsible alcohol use by people over the age of 21 do not.

The Legislature should get this law off the books and focus on real threats to public health.