Talk:Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission

Recently added material removed from article

Oregon’s governor, Julius Meier appointed Dr. William S. Knox and a special committee to study Oregon’s options with regard to regulation of alcoholic beverages. The committee’s final report, known as the Knox report, recommended a system similar to Canada. The committee believed this system would provide needed revenue for state and local services as well as keep alcohol abuse at a lower level. Based on the Knox report, the Oregon Legislative Assembly held a Special Session that created the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.

The Liquor Control Act, signed by the governor on Dec. 15, 1933, gave the state exclusive rights to sell distilled spirits and fortified wine as well as the authority to license private businesses to sell beer and table wine by the bottle and the glass. Oregon is one of 18 states that directly control the sale of alcoholic beverages in the U.S.

Accomplishments

Over the years, the OLCC has seen many successes including the Alcohol Server Education Program, Responsible Vendor Program, Clerk Training Program, and enforcement of Oregon’s Bottle Bill. Since inception, the OLCC has given back $3.4 billion to taxpayers through revenue distributions to Oregon’s general fund, Oregon counties, incorporated cities and other programs.

Mission

The OLCC’s mission is to promote the public interest through the responsible sale and service of alcoholic beverages. The OLCC balances its policies and practices so the needs of the various parts of the alcoholic beverage system are met in a socially responsible manner.

Public Safety

The OLCC focuses on public safety and community livability considerations when guiding alcohol beverage system growth. OLCC places high priority on operating in a socially responsible manner when creating policies for customer demand of alcoholic beverages and outlets.

Economic Development

The commission enables business people to be viable in their sale of alcohol, supporting economic viability for Oregonians. OLCC also manages the healthy growth of the Distilled Spirits Program so desired products reach the customer timely and efficiently.

Stewardship

The commission prides itself on being good stewards of the public by providing high quality customer service; working with local government, business partners and community partners as well as caring for assets, managing risks and protecting revenue flow.

Commissioners

The Commission consists of five citizen Commissioners who are appointed by the governor to four-year terms, subject to Senate confirmation. Each commissioner represents a state congressional district and one is from the food and beverage industry. The Commission sets general policy and appoints the agency director who supervises OLCC's day-to-day operations.

OLCC History

Key events in OLCC history

1844 – Prohibition vote in the OR Territory - first prohibition law in US, later repealed in 1845.

1914 – Oregonians vote to ban all liquor sales, preceding national prohibition by four years.

1930’s
1933 – National prohibition ended. Oregon Liquor Control Act passed and OLCC created.
1936 – Enforcement Division formed to oversee liquor law enforcement and compliance.
1939 – Legislature adopts Wine Standards Act, giving Commission right to regulate wine trade.

1940’s
1940 – Commission passes regulations prohibiting public marketing of liquor by brand name.
1941 – Hard alcohol restricted exclusively to retail establishments with full food service.
1941 – Moved from original site on E. Burnside to location on SE 11th.
1943 – Liquor rationed during WWII; OLCC acquires the Shawhan distillery in Bardstown, KY.
1945 – Oregon and Washington discontinue liquor production business.
1949 – The OLCC Education Advisory Committee created to warn people of alcohol abuse.

1950’s
1951 – Five new classes of retail and wholesale license privileges created between 1951 & 1956.
1952 – Constitutional amendment to allow distilled spirits sales by the glass.
1954 – Headquarters relocated from SE Portland to central warehouse and office in Milwaukie.
1957 – The position of OLCC Comptroller created to oversee all merchandising and finances.

1960’s
1963 – Distribution of liquor profits modified to give an increased percentage to cities & counties.
1964 – First automated inventory and merchandise control system introduced in warehouse.

1970’s
1971 – Bottle Bill adopted (enforced by OLCC) - “Oregon’s most effective recycling system.”
1973 – Legislature consolidates the convoluted maze of existing types of liquor licenses.
1974 – The conveyor system was installed in OLCC warehouse.
1979 – OLCC added 29,000 square feet of space to warehouse.

1980’s
1981 – Number of Commissioners increases to five, reflective of congressional districts.
1983 – Last state operated liquor store converts to retail store contract agent operation.

1990’s
1995 – Implemented bailment inventory control system.
1996 – Regulatory Division begins to conduct minor decoy operations throughout the state.
1999 – Legislative Assembly establishes the Hearing Officer Panel in Employment Department.

2000’s
2000 – Retail business licenses consolidated to four categories. Responsible Vendor Program debuts.
2002 – Warehouse Management System is implemented to sort and track all of the products in the distribution center.
2003 – Information Services overhaul; Data Management System modernizes record management processing.
2004 – Enforcement Division resumed structured training for sworn enforcement personnel.
2007 – OLCC purchases the Wilhelm Warehouse (Milport) - a 107,244-square-foot facility.
2008 – New Minor Posting introduced; OLCC turns profits of over $155 million per fiscal year.

Decoy operations

The commission performs the minor sales checks in conjunction with local enforcement agencies in an effort to reduce drinking by minors, which is a serious problem throughout the state. The OLCC tests about 1,400 licensed liquor businesses each year.

During the sales checks, a minor volunteer attempts to purchase alcohol from a licensed business to see if staff are checking ID’s correctly and refusing to sell alcohol to anyone under 21. Commission inspectors or other law enforcement officers supervise the minor volunteers. The volunteers carry their own legal ID and do not disguise their age or lie to encourage the sale of alcohol.

Servers, bartenders and licensees whose employees sell alcohol to the minor or do not verify the minor’s age, are subject to OLCC administrative penalties including fines or suspensions. Store clerks who sell can be cited with criminal charges and a minimum $350 fine. Licensees or their employees can be held liable for alcohol-related damages and injuries if they serve or sell alcohol to a minor.

Under Oregon law, businesses in cities with a population of 20,000 or more have an equal chance of being randomly selected for a minor decoy compliance check. A business can also be selected for a compliance check if there is a documented complaint of sales to minors. Businesses in cities with a population under 20,000 and unincorporated areas in counties are not subject to these selection requirements.

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This looks like a copy and paste from the agency's website, has unnecessary html tags and needs rewriting, prosification, wikification and other formatting changes before being restored to the article. Katr67 (talk) 04:30, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

Here's the source of the copyvio: http://www.oregon.gov/OLCC/docs/publications/about_us_history.pdf or perhaps here: https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/Documents/recordsmgmt/sched/overview-liquor-control.pdf Good stuff, but needs to be rewritten to eliminate the copyvio. We are not a mirror site for the OLCC. Katr67 (talk) 05:13, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

Here is a stab at a first re-write.

CSAIG 18:48, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

Possible re-write

The Oregon Legislative Assembly held a Special Session that created the Oregon Liquor Control Commission in 1933, just days after the national repeal of prohibition. The decision was based off a report called the Knox report. Oregon's Governor, Julius Meier signed the Liquor Control Act (also known as the Knox Act) Dec. 15, 1933. This gave the state the exclusive rights to sell distilled spirits and fortified wine as well as the authority to license private businesses to sell beer and wine by the bottle or glass.

Oregon is one of 18 "control" states in the U.S.

The program has two major programs, Distilled Spirits and Enforcement and Compliance. The OLCC centrally purchases, warehouses and distributes distilled spirits to Oregon's 240 liquor stores. The liquor agents are independent contractors who operate and manage the liquor stores.

There are five regional offices (Portland, Medford, Salem, Bend and Eugene)that license businesses and enforce liquor laws.

Commissioners

The Commission consists of five citizen Commissioners who are appointed by the governor to four-year terms, subject to Senate confirmation. Each commissioner represents a state congressional district and one is from the food and beverage industry. The Commission sets general policy and appoints the agency director who supervises OLCC's day-to-day operations.

History Timeline

History Timeline

1844 – Prohibition vote in the OR Territory - first prohibition law in US, later repealed in 1845.

1914 – Oregonians vote to ban all liquor sales, preceding national prohibition by four years.

1930’s
1933 – National prohibition ended. Oregon Liquor Control Act passed and OLCC created.
1936 – Enforcement Division formed to oversee liquor law enforcement and compliance.
1939 – Legislature adopts Wine Standards Act, giving Commission right to regulate wine trade.

1940’s
1940 – Commission passes regulations prohibiting public marketing of liquor by brand name.
1941 – Hard alcohol restricted exclusively to retail establishments with full food service.
1941 – OLCC moved from original site on E. Burnside to location on SE 11th.
1943 – Liquor rationed during WWII; OLCC acquires the Shawhan distillery in Bardstown, KY.
1945 – Oregon and Washington discontinue liquor production business.
1949 – The OLCC Education Advisory Committee created to warn people of alcohol abuse.

1950’s
1951 – Five new classes of retail and wholesale license privileges created between 1951 & 1956.
1952 – Constitutional amendment to allow distilled spirits sales by the glass.
1954 – Headquarters relocated from SE Portland to central warehouse and office in Milwaukie.
1957 – The position of OLCC Comptroller created to oversee all merchandising and finances.

1960’s
1963 – Distribution of liquor profits modified to give an increased percentage to cities & counties.
1964 – First automated inventory and merchandise control system introduced in warehouse.

1970’s
1971 – Bottle Bill adopted (enforced by OLCC) - “Oregon’s most effective recycling system.”
1973 – Legislature consolidates the convoluted maze of existing types of liquor licenses.
1974 – The conveyor system was installed in OLCC warehouse.
1979 – OLCC added 29,000 square feet of space to warehouse.

1980’s
1981 – Number of Commissioners increases to five, reflective of congressional districts.
1983 – Last state operated liquor store converts to retail store contract agent operation.

1990’s
1995 – Implemented bailment inventory control system.
1996 – Regulatory Division begins to conduct minor decoy operations throughout the state.
1999 – Legislative Assembly establishes the Hearing Officer Panel in Employment Department.

2000’s
2000 – Retail business licenses consolidated to four categories. Responsible Vendor Program debuts.
2002 – Warehouse Management System is implemented to sort and track all of the products in the distribution center.
2003 – Information Services overhaul; Data Management System modernizes record management processing.
2004 – Enforcement Division resumed structured training for sworn enforcement personnel.
2007 – OLCC purchases the Wilhelm Warehouse (Milport) - a 107,244-square-foot facility.
2008 – New Minor Posting introduced; OLCC turns profits of over $155 million per fiscal year.

Decoy operations

The commission performs minor sales checks in conjunction with local enforcement agencies in an effort to reduce drinking by minors.

Minor volunteers (supervised by OLCC or local enforcement) are used to attempt to purchase alcohol from a business with a liquor license to see if employees are checking ID’s and/or selling to people under 21. The minor volunteers carry their own legal ID and do not disguise their age or lie to employees to encourage a sale.

Servers, bartenders and licensees whose employees sell alcohol to the minor or do not verify the minor’s age, are subject to OLCC administrative penalties including fines or suspensions. Store clerks who sell can be cited with criminal charges and a minimum $350 fine. Licensees or their employees can be held liable for alcohol-related damages and injuries if they serve or sell alcohol to a minor.

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I've started moving some of this material back into the article, rewriting and wikifying it as I go. Right now there is some redundant information. I'm a bit confused about the difference between various program areas. Are they Programs, Divisions or what? (I know the nomenclature of these things matters, at least maybe to DAS and the LC.) According to the OLCC website, there are three Program areas, as outlined in the section I've renamed, likely inaccurately, "Divisions". But the new material says there are two main program areas, distilled spirits and enforcement and regulation. Each of these seem to fall under one of the other areas, so this all needs to be clarified. I also note that a big part of OLCC's mission is economic, so that definitely merits a section in the article. If we can clarify the stuff about the sections, divisions, whatever, then we can fix that part but I'm going to leave it for now. I might be able to get to the other sections about the board, etc. soon. Or somebody else can take a stab at it. How about we put a {{wip}} tag on the article so there aren't any edit conflicts. Katr67 (talk) 04:07, 21 March 2009 (UTC)

By the way, timelines are discouraged--it would be best to "prosify" that info before it goes in the article. Katr67 (talk) 04:09, 21 March 2009 (UTC)

Let's add a Criticism section!

Here's some text for consideration to include in the article:

The ideological and political notion of limiting access to alcohol products has been noted by many researchers as outdated, unscientific and overly-manipulative of human populaces. (Add many easy to find, empirically researched references here.) Furthermore, contemporary studies highly correlate moderate alcohol beverage consumption with many health benefits, including (but not limited to) decreased risk of atherosclerosis,

References

The above is a criticism of temperance in general and might go in that article. Even there though, a criticism citing one scientific paper only would not survive for 30 seconds. Take a look at the articles in the Alcohol and Health box to see hundreds of papers about alcohol's effects, often bad but sometimes good. Nunquam Dormio (talk) 08:31, 15 September 2009 (UTC)

OLCC minor decoys

• Moved from Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Oregon. tedder (talk) 23:37, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

Currently what is written:

The OLCC conducts multiple underage undercover decoy alcohol stings. The OLCC uses Law Enforcement Cadets and members of Multnomah County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue to enter stores and attempt to purchase alcohol. Decoys must provide actual ID to the teller if asked. OLCC puts decoy stings on about every two to four months.

Some of these facts are wrong. The OLCC can occocasion use Law Enforcement Cadet and members of MCSO S&R, but the minor volunteers are not limited to just those two groups. A more accurate statement would read. "The OLCC uses minor volunteers age 17-20 to enter stores and attempt to purchase alcohol. Minor volunteers can be law enforcement cadets."

Also, the OLCC performs minor sales checks much more frequently than 2 or 4 months. Considering they cover the entire state and not just PDX, this information is wrong.

An accurate statement would be, "The OLCC performs approximately 1,800 minor sales checks per year." Christie Scott December 11, 2009 23:29 (UTC)

History of metric volumes in Oregon Liquor?

Which years did the OLCC decide to regulate the volumes of liquor bottles made available for sale to the general public? For instance, mandating the use of liters instead of gallons? And likewise, 750 ml containers instead of quarts? Is this merely an industry wide practice, or did the OLCC mandate adoption of metric values in lieu of traditional english values? The first paragraph of the main article appears to relate to the history of the commission, and I think that expanding this paragraph, or possibly adding a paragraph on the switch to metric values, would improve the article. Or is this dealt with, in some other article in Wikipedia? 216.99.198.165 (talk) 03:50, 19 December 2010 (UTC)

External links modified

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The claim about original research may have involved reverting my edits

Just leaving a note here that I provided evidence, more than one link, for the info on the committee and its members and added details from said references contextualizing its significance for Measure 91 in Oregon which passed back in 2014. I added another citation. This should resolve the issue and as long as it sticks, I'll delete the notes at the top of the page from Aug 2021 in a week or so. sheridanford (talk) 19:37, 30 December 2023 (UTC)