An Arkansas state panel has recommended that alcoholic beverages like Mike's Hard Lemonade be categorized as hard liquor and sold only in liquor stores rather than grocery stores or gas stations. The task force also recommended raising sales taxes on the beverages.

"The recommendations, six in all, are designed to attack underage drinking because alcohol is generally the first drug young people try and is considered 'the premiere gatekeeper' to illegal drug use, Arkansas Drug Director Fran Flener said."

Other recommendations included keeping the state's minimum drinking age at 21 and enforcing its social host liability law, which holds individuals responsible when underage drinking occurs on their property. Source: Arkansas News Bureau

Labels: alcohol_sales, teenage_drinking, underage_drinking