Reader: Oregon paved way for Colo.'s take-home-wine policy

Editor, NRN:

In reference to "Allowing patrons to take home bottles of wine could put cork on drinking and driving," July 12, page 25, Oregon has been allowing this since 1981. That is because of the lobbying efforts of the Oregon Restaurant Association, which at that time was known as the Oregon Restaurant and Bar Association.

The allowances were embedded in the enabling statutes for the applicable liquor licenses. In 1991 or so the laws were amended to require that the licensee advise patrons of the open-container law. It also was suggested that it would be a good idea to put the bottles in the trunk of the car.

Since the inception of the laws, it was determined that the licensee "shall allow" the patron to take home the partially finished wine. In 1999 the laws were amended further, at the suggestion of a wine industry lobbyist, to specify that patrons could not be minors or visibly intoxicated.

--Christopher Hansen

Davis Wright Tremaine

Portland, Ore.

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