Cocktails to Go has been an economic lifeline for local restaurants and bars, said Chris Swonger, president/ceo, Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., as he opened a webinar Tuesday about cocktails to go. States have provided a number of safeguards to deter abuse of the product, and Brown-Forman launched a “pause to go” campaign to help remind people they have an economic responsibility to act responsibly.
Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia currently allow carryout.
Chief Steven Casstevens of the Buffalo Grove Police Department and president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police said law enforcement needs to establish relationships with licensees, to make sure “everyone knows what they can do and what they can’t do.” Thus far, he said, there has been no increase in open container violatons. He said authorizing cocktails to go as a permanent law “would make for more consistent application.”
Jonathan Adkins, execuitve director, Governors Highway Traffic Safety Association, said he hasn’t heard of any violations of open container laws.
Suzanne Bohle, executive vice president, Council of State Restaurant Associations, called Cocktails-to-Go an “important economic lifeline” and said 20% of restaurants monthly income now comes from cocktails to go. “Making it permanent would give restaurants some predictability,” she added.
Adam Chafetz, president of the TIPs program, said that in some cases, laws governing cocktails to go are confusing. He added it needs to be clear that patrons need to pull down their masks so their IDs can be matched to their faces. He added the Washington Post recently reported under age people were “dressing up as eldeerly women and getting away with it.” East Coast people don’t take the rules as seriously as those in Midwest and West, he added.