Why should I look at a list of Explanatory Notes and Limitations before I view APIS comparison tables of APIS policy topics?
The complexities of State and Federal statutes and regulations make it impossible to characterize all State and Federal alcohol policies with complete precision. Complicating factors may include but are not limited to: • the existence of other, important variables not currently included in APIS; • ambiguities in statutory and regulatory language; • preemption of local options by State law or court decisions; • the impact of case law and local laws and ordinances; • the possible existence of statutes or regulations outside the body of alcohol-related law that may affect the implementation of policies; • the impact of administrative decisions which, while not codified in statutes or regulations, affect the implementation of policies; • the wide variety of alcoholic beverages (e.g., sake, vermouth, cider) that may be variously defined by different States or that may not be addressed in some or all jurisdictions; • the existence of important extra-legal factors related to implementation, e
