COLUMBUS – In one of the first-ever lawsuits centering on the 21st Amendment, which repealed Prohibition in 1933, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has filed for a preliminary injunction to immediately stop the flow of illegal liquor shipments into the state.
Yost’s office determined that multiple out-of-state companies are selling wine and spirits while circumventing Ohio law that prohibits the shipment of such products directly to consumers.
Shipping data reported to the Division of Liquor Control showed that, in 2019, Wine.com and Winc alone delivered nearly 350 tons of wine shipments to the state, all without paying Ohio taxes.
Wine Country Gift Baskets and Ace Spirit were also singled out by Yost’s office.
The injunction is one of the first to ever invoke the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gives each state the right to regulate the import or transportation of liquor into its boundaries.
The law is designed to help the state control the sale of alcohol to minors, ensure payment of all appropriate taxes and protect liquor businesses from illegal competition from out-of-state distributors.