2015 Oklahoma Statutes
Title 37. Intoxicating Liquors
§37-521.2. Legislative findings.

The Legislature finds and declares that:

1. The state has a substantial interest in exercising its powers and the powers granted to the states by the Twenty-first Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and in regulating the structure of the state’s alcoholic beverage industry including the activities of manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retailers, the methods by which alcoholic beverages are marketed, and influences that affect the consumption levels of alcoholic beverages by the people of the state;

2. The state’s system of regulating the manufacture, distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages has served this state and its citizens well and has contributed to the economic growth and stability of the state;

3. Changes in market dynamics and advances in technology may have altered the way the alcoholic beverage industry operates, but have not changed the state’s desire for strict regulation of the manufacture, importation, distribution, marketing and sale of alcoholic beverages in accordance with the Oklahoma State Constitution and laws and regulations enacted by the Legislature and the Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission. Such regulation advances the interest of the state in ensuring a competitive and orderly market in the distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages, promoting temperance in the use and consumption of alcoholic beverages, and facilitating the collection of excise taxes and fees. The purpose of the state’s regulatory system is to promote these interests by requiring economic separation between the tiers that contributes to a fair, open and competitive market resulting in interbrand and other competition within each tier, and prevents disorderly market conditions, including but not limited to the domination of local markets and the undue influence of one tier over another. This purpose is through any direct or indirect ownership interest, or any other financial or business obligation;

4. The state maintains an interest in the promotion of temperance as a paramount public health, safety and welfare concern. The Legislature further reaffirms that temperance is achieved, consistent with structural regulation that promotes a competitive and orderly market, by controlled access to, and responsible use and consumption of, alcoholic beverages by persons of legal drinking age; and

5. All provisions of this act shall be literally construed for the accomplishment of these purposes, and any exceptions are to be narrowly interpreted and applied.

Added by Laws 2007, c. 46, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2007.