To: Alcohol Awareness Program and Instructor Permit Holders

Subject: Alcohol Awareness Training

The Comptroller is authorized to issue Alcohol Awareness programs and Alcohol Awareness instructor permits under Article 2B, section 2-101, of the Annotated Code of Maryland. The Comptroller reviews the Alcohol Awareness program to be certain the class is compliant with the provisions found in Section 13-101, of Article 2B, and then certifies the Alcohol Awareness program as compliant with requirements set forth in the statute.

The statute requires that an Alcohol Awareness program contain the following information at a minimum:

• Instruction on how alcohol affects a person’s body and behavior;
• Provides education on the dangers of drinking and driving;
• Defines effective methods for :
  • Serving customers to minimize the chance of intoxication
  • Ceasing service before the customer becomes intoxicated
  • Determining if a customer is under the legal drinking age

The Alcohol Awareness programs certified by the Comptroller as compliant with the statutory requirements, must meet these minimum requirements. Alcohol Awareness instructors teaching approved classes must then carry out the class as certified by the Comptroller. This means that the course content and the number of minimum classroom hours as presented by the program provider must be part of the actual program given by an instructor.