OKLAHOMA CITY – Consumers would be able to purchase wine and strong beer at grocery and convenience stores under a proposal touted by the group Oklahomans for Modern Laws, reports Tulsa World.

“What we are trying to do is to make it more available to the consumer, to give the consumer more accessibility to these items," Oklahomans for Modern Laws spokesman Brian Howe told newspaper, noting that group’s main goal is to give consumers the choice to purchase wine and strong beer in conveniences and grocery stores “so they don’t have to make two stops.” He also notes that changing current state law would lure more higher-end grocery stores to Oklahoma.

Howe told the newspaper that Oklahomans for Modern Laws would like to circulate its petition next spring and possibly have a proposal on the ballot by 2008. He commented that about 200,000 signatures would be required to get the issue on the ballot.

Meanwhile, the newspaper notes that convenience stores “were staying neutral” on the issue.

“It is like anything else we run into,” Vance McSpadden, executive director of the Oklahoma Petroleum Marketers Association and the Oklahoma Association of Convenience Stores, told Tulsa World. He noted that the initiative is “in the beginning stages.” Mike Thornbrugh, manager of government and public affairs at QuikTrip, told the newspaper he had not heard of the proposal.

While Howe notes “the time is right for a change” in state law, he said that opposition is expected to come from liquor retailers.

According to Oklahoma Retail Liquor Association President J.P. Richard, changing state law would take away 40 percent of liquor store sales, leaving them with “cigarettes and soda pop.”