County restaurants, bars and taverns with off-premise liquor licenses will be allowed to continue to sell mixed drinks or cocktails for take out or delivery under the terms of a law signed last week by Gov. Larry Hogan (R).
The law is effective July 1 and will permit the sale of these beverages until June 30, 2023.
In the meantime, the law requires the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission and the Maryland Department of Health to jointly study the effects of expanding alcohol access and report the findings to the General Assembly by Dec. 30, 2022.
A March 16, 2020 Executive Order closed all bars and restaurants. The governor then modified the order on March 19 to permit carryout sales or delivery of alcohol.
The County Council, in May 22 a letter spearheaded by Councilmember Andrew Friedson (D-District 1), requested the governor to extend the order to allow the state legislature to consider how to make it permanent.
The letter also was sent to Comptroller Peter Franchot (D), who lent his support to the request in May 2020.
The products sold must be in either the original sealed container, or in a container closed with a cap, cork, seal, or lid and no holes for straws or sipping.
The license holder’s employee who is at least 21 years old and certified in an alcohol awareness program (a slight change to the original order) must do any deliveries.
Photo posted to Wikimedia Commons by Angie Garrett and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
The restaurant industry has been among the hardest hit during COVID and will continue to feel the lasting and lingering…
Posted by Councilmember Andrew Friedson on Monday, May 24, 2021