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Online Alcohol Sales Concern of Republican and Democrat Attorneys General

Landry-Frey Coalition Calls for Online Platforms to Crack Down on Illegal Sales

BATON ROUGE, LA – A bipartisan coalition of 46 state and territory Attorneys General – led by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey – called on Facebook, Craigslist, and eBay to take proactive measures against alcohol sales on their platforms which frequently violate state laws and could pose health risks.

“As we have seen recently with vaping and opioids, adolescents are finding new ways to purchase contraband online,” said Attorney General Landry. “These widely-used online platforms have a responsibility to implement meaningful systems and programs that proactively address this problem and keep our children safe.”

In letters to the online platforms, the Attorneys General argue that “everyone has an ethical and moral responsibility to protect consumers, especially those who are most vulnerable to fraud.” They note that the 21st Amendment invests the right to regulate the sale of alcohol to each state and point out concerns that unlicensed, unregulated, and untaxed alcohol sales are taking place on digital platforms.

“The black-market products sold on these platforms may be counterfeit or tainted, sometimes with harmful health effects,” warned General Landry. “So together – Republican and Democrat – we want to solve this problem and make our jurisdictions safer places to live, work, and raise families.”

The Attorneys General ask Facebook, Craigslist, and eBay to review the current content posted to the companies’ websites and remove any illegal postings for the sales and/or transfer of alcohol products. They also ask the platforms to work to develop and deploy programming to block and prevent their platform users from violating state law by posting content for the sale and distribution of alcohol products on their websites.

Joining General Landry and General Frey in signing the letters are the Attorneys General of Alabama, American Samoa, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.