A survey of more than 2,100 Pennsylvania voters show that almost four in five are worried about the ease of access to alcohol by minors and most fear that selling beer in convenience stores and supermarkets will open the door for still more underage drinkers.

View the survey results (PDF file)

In the survey, released by Malt Beverage Distributors Association of PA (MBDA), showed 74 percent of more than 2,110 voters said they saw “easy access to alcohol” for minors as a “very serious” or “relatively serious problem” in Pennsylvania.  A total of 53 percent said that sales of beer “in convenience stores and supermarkets … will make it more likely that teenagers will have easier access to beer.”

In ranking establishments in terms of which would be “more likely to be more stringent in the enforcement of laws prohibiting the sales of beer to minors and to visibly intoxicated persons,” a total of 34 percent gave the highest  rating to bars.  Beer distributors were ranked second at 28 percent; restaurants, third, at 17 percent.  Only 15 percent said they thought super markets would be the most stringent and convenience stores trailed all at 6 percent believing they would be more stringent in policing sales.

An overwhelming 82 percent said they would support changes in state law designed to help keep beer out of the hands of minors or clearly intoxicated persons.

Of those surveyed, two-thirds felt that driving under the influence of alcohol was a more serious problem in Pennsylvania than driving while under the influence of drugs.

Just about half of those surveyed said they thought that “the existing number of locations selling carryout beer provides consumer convenience” while 18 percent said the state “has too many locations where carryout beer is available.”  The remainder said they felt the state needed “more locations.”

More than half of those participating in the survey (54 percent) said they usually make their purchases of beer for off-premise consumption at distributorships while 31 percent reported they don’t buy carryout beer at all.  This compares to the 36 percent who reported they “don’t drink beer at all.”  About 25 percent reported they don’t drink any kind of alcohol.

Two out of three respondents (65 percent) said they would support legislation to allow the sales of six-packs and 12-packs at beer distributorships.

Most of those participating (57 percent) said they thought that Pennsylvania’s current alcoholic beverage code was “reasonable” in prohibiting the sale of beer where gasoline or groceries or both are sold.

The survey was conducted for the MBDA during the first week of December by Your Opinion Counts PA, an Internet-based research service. Participants in the survey were self-selecting, responding voluntarily to invitations to participate that were sent by e-mail and opened by 70,000 Pennsylvania voters.

View the survey results (PDF file)