Stupid State Beer/Liquor Laws

Me either, but I would definitely play one - slightly drunk - on a plane over kansas in the 70s!

 

1974ish I recall that it was voted on and enacted as law. Pretty sure Kansas airspace started at ground level, and drinks were not (supposed to be) served at any time an airplane was in the state of Kansas. I find it doubtful that the law was followed, but it does give insight into the type of people living in that part of the country.

 

So Maryland is really stupid now in that when you turn 21, most places won’t sell you beer if your form of ID is still vertical. So it’s not a matter selling illegally to underaged anymore, it’s gotten more beaurocratic as “can’t server alcohol legally without acceptable ID presented”. Beyond stupid IMO, maybe it’s because clerks can’t figure out dates anymore, who knows. So most kids when they turn 21 need to rush out and get a new license. The tradition /right of passage of going out to a bar at midnight when you turn 21 is a thing of the past. And on another subject what is the deal with the stores scanning your drivers license now? Is that verifying age or data collecting?

 

Greetings from Massachusetts, home of the puritans!

No Happy Hours with discounted drinks. The law also prevents bars from hosting drinking games Such as beer pong.

When you are at a bar , you - as a patron , can't order/carry more than 2 drinks at a time directly from the bartender. A server can, but a customer can't.

It is illegal to give beer to a hospital patient which is actually common sense but mandated

you can only sell beer and wine in convenience and grocery stores from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday. On Sunday, you may not sell alcohol before noon.

You may not sell alcohol on election day while the polls are open. We still elect ridiculous politicians while sober

There are nine Massachusetts towns are dry, prohibiting the sale of alcohol entirely.

 

Incredible that Massachusetts has some dry towns. I remember being in Kentucky a few years ago and going to a restaurant in a dry county; I thought I had entered a time warp.

 

I grew up in Pa, and the old Quaker Laws applied well into the 80/90 when I relocated to N.C. At that time No Sunday beer sales, except restaurants. Big beer distribution warehouses were in, by the case only stacked up on pallets. You could buy beer in bars, but limited to two Sixers per trip, nothing in stores or gas stations obviously you’d burst into flames for the depravity. That’s how you bought beer, which is why living on the Delaware River we just went into Trenton NJ, everything under one roof. I rarely bought in Pa because I didn’t have to, prices were and are also much higher than NJ.

 

I didn't realize just how many goofy ass laws there were governing alcohol (but it does make some sense given how some people act when under the influence). The map in particular was pretty informative, moist counties notwithstanding lol.

 

NY is the same way. You're old enough to drink, but if your license so says Under 21 you'll likely be refused service. One of the reasons I heard was that the buyer is required to produce a valid ID and the ID isn't valid ID it has a false statement. Knowing NYS alcohol enforcement, and desire for money, I can believe that some bars and stores have been fined for just that.

I asked the beer manager for clarification on markdowns. She said that her understanding of the rules was that the retailer is allowed to mark down beer if it is a clearance sale and they won't be restocking that beer. She added that they weren't allowed to advertise any sale prices.

 

A large part of the reason for these laws is the way the SCOTUS has interpreted the Section Two of the Twenty-first Amendment:

Lots of states do - if one can trust the Wiki page. Yellow represents counties were there are dry municipalities (lived next door to one in NYS myself), Red are dry counties.

 

Wow I had no idea Michigan had so many dry towns. Never noticed any shortage growing up there

 

Parts of NC the laws are ancient, the more rural you get the weirder it gets. In the cities the business owners usually push thru liquor or beer by the drink, but certainly not everywhere, it a city town thing not even necessarily a county.

 

Maybe there aren't so many dry towns. The list doesn't come close to what the map seems to say. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dry_communities_by_U.S._state#Michigan
Some updating is probably needed.

 

The dumbest law we have in NJ is the one that limits the number of licenses based on the population of the town. Since many towns can't grow larger no new licenses can be granted. The existing one become worth a lot of money. In a neighboring town one was sold for $1,200,000.00.
.

 

All true in this case. Store was closing to re rebranded, and closeout prices weren't advertised as far as I can tell.

 

I remember when living in Indiana the Grocery stores would sell all types of liquor, but it could not be chilled. I guess the legislature thought you could only become inebriated if the liquor was chilled.

 

Turns out @cavedave was right on the money. They had an Attorney general named Vern Miller who was something of a zealot. I asked this question on an aviation site, and got several similar replies. Old Vern even raided an Amtrak train one night, and threw the conductor in jail. Here's the thread I started over there:

https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1457757

 

The small Upstate NY town I lived in for my first 40 years was dry into the 1990's, when you could start buying sixpacks at the grocery store. Now, there's even a restaurant where you can buy a drink.

 

In the PA grocery stores where I purchase beer, I have been able to pay for groceries along with my beer at the beer department cash register. I make sure that I have just a few grocery items but it is nice to just make one stop at a cash register (almost like a normal state.)

 

Felt so sorry for a young Radio Troop I worked with over in England in the late 80s, joined early & did a 2 year tour in England drinking to his heart's content ( and perhaps then some ? ) PCSed back to the " World" as the youngsters called it & had a solid year before he was legal in the states.

 

Heard this was thing in the town Near Cannon AFB New Mexico. No one I knew liked that place...