In recent years, Massachusetts has become more lax on matters that once would have been described as social vices — think casino gambling, marijuana and sports betting.
Now there's a push by some state legislators to move in the opposite direction when it comes to alcohol, in the wake of a recent Boston University School of Public Health study which found that alcohol use and abuse are exacting a massive human and financial toll here — and that, in some key areas, the state is behind the curve nationally when it comes to regulation.
So how likely is it that the Legislature will take action in the near future to make alcohol use less palatable to the public? And what might those steps look like? Adam Reilly is joined by David Jernigan, the study's lead author and an assistant dean at the Boston University School of Public Health, and Axios Boston's Mike Deehan to discuss the case for reform, the timetable moving forward, and the countervailing pressures lawmakers interested in further regulation might face.
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