As excerpted from The Washington Times:

The Maryland Consumer Freedom Coalition, backed by the Maryland Retailers Alliance trade association, is renewing its effort for the state to legalize beer and wine sales in grocery stores.

Maryland Retailers Alliance President Cailey Locklair said outside a Giant grocery store Thursday that, since grocery stores and other similar retailers operate on such thin margins, allowing beer and wine sales could be the difference between shutting down and their ability to stay open, especially given competition from stores in nearby jurisdictions.

“In Maryland, we are at a competitive disadvantage,” Ms. Locklair said. Residents who live near the state’s borders cross state lines into the District, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, “where there is one-stop shopping and grocery stores where they can not only buy their groceries, but also purchase their beer and wine.”

She was backed up at the press conference by state Delegate Marlon Amprey, a Democrat and sponsor of previous failed bills to legalize the sale of beer and wine outside of a select group of grandfathered-in stores.

Mr. Amprey, whose district mostly includes West Baltimore, said he was reintroducing his Alcoholic Beverages Modernization Act for the upcoming Maryland legislative session, which starts in January.

Mr. Amprey said Maryland should allow beer and wine sales in grocery stores to make it more convenient for families and workers, give grocery stores more of an edge to stay in neighborhoods that they might otherwise leave, and because of customer safety.

Click here to read the full article from The Washington Times.