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Thread: Seven Of The Craziest Drinking Laws In America

  1. #1

    Seven Of The Craziest Drinking Laws In America

    1. Texas Forces Craft Breweries to Give Up Millions in Valuable Property

    Microbreweries are flourishing in Texas. But now the state is demanding these entrepreneurs hand over millions of dollars in property rights to politically connected beer distributors—and they can’t receive a single cent.

    Distributors used to compensate brewers for the right to sell their beer in markets like Houston or Austin. But thanks to a sales restriction passed in 2013, brewers can no longer “accept payment in exchange for an agreement setting forth territorial rights.” So under the new law, brewers are forced to give up their distribution rights to distributors for free. Even worse, distributors can then sell those rights to other distributors and pocket the money.
    In other words, Texas made it illegal for craft brewers to profit from their own beer. As long as this law stands, microbreweries will find it incredibly difficult to expand their business to other parts of the state.

    The law was passed over the objections of Texas brewers. Only one group supported it: distributors, who clearly stood to gain from its passage. The law’s impact was immediately understood by both brewers and distributors. Dallas-based brewer Michael Peticolas had been negotiating with distributors for territorial rights at the time the law was passed. After it passed, those negotiations abruptly ended.

    To fight back, three craft breweries, Live Oak, Revolver and Peticolas, joined forces with the Institute for Justice and just sued the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

    Don’t mess with Texas beer.

    2. You Can’t Buy Cold Beer at Convenience Stores in Indiana

    Under Indiana state law, pharmacies, convenience stores and grocery stores can only sell beer if it’s warm. Selling cold beer can lead to hundreds of dollars in fines.

    But there is a major loophole: The law doesn’t apply to the 300 or so liquor stores in the state. So they can sell cold beer and typically charge about $1 extra just for chilling those suds.

    An association of convenience stores is currently suing the Hoosier State in federal court, arguing that the ban is “irrational,” “hurts consumers” and creates a “virtual monopoly” for liquor stores.

    3. Buzzkill: States Ban or Restrict Happy Hour

    Home to both “Cheers” and the drunkest city in America, Massachusetts has also spawned one of the weirdest drinking laws in the county: a complete ban on happy hours. Since 1984, this modern-day Prohibition has spread to other states, including Illinois, North Carolina and Vermont.

    The law is even crazier in Virginia. Happy hours are legal in Old Dominion, and after a decades-long ban, restaurants finally can use the phrase “happy hour” in their print and online ads. Until January 29, 2014, “Virginia restaurants could only advertise happy hour inside the establishment or on a 17-by-22-inch sign attached to the outside of the business.”

    But the state still won’t let restaurants use the word “discounted” or advertise which drinks are cheaper and by how much. So the Virginia Department of Alcohol Beverage Control would censor an ad as vague as “Beer and wine specials from 5–9 p.m. daily.” Not only that, all happy hours have to end by 9 p.m.

    4. It’s Illegal to Buy Some Growlers in Three States

    Growlers are reusable glass jugs that keep draft beer fresh for days. They also have lower packaging costs when compared to bottles and cans, a huge boon for up-and-coming small businesses. They play a vital role in the microbrewing business.
    But not in Florida.

    The Sunshine State doesn’t allow 64-ounce growlers, the industry standard size. Supporters of the ban say it cuts down on overdrinking. That’s hard to stomach since it’s completely legal to buy either two 32-ounce growlers or even gallon growlers (128 ounces).

    According to the co-owner of one growler bar in Florida, “Because this law is so irrational, a lot of people from other states simply don’t believe me. They think I’m inventing excuses to gouge them by pushing them to buy a new jug in a different size.”

    The law is so bizarre, only two other states—Mississippi and Idaho—have similar bans in place.

    5. In Kentucky, Pharmacies Can Sell Wine and Liquor, But Not Grocery Stores

    Thanks to a law passed way back in 1938, it’s against the law for grocery stores and gas stations to sell liquor or wine if they earn 10 percent or more of their sales from selling gas or groceries. But that law doesn’t apply to pharmacies, even if they sell groceries. As one federal judge put it, the law “does not explain why a grocery-selling drugstore like Walgreens may sell wine and liquor, but a pharmaceutical-selling grocery store like Kroger cannot.”

    Not only is the law a major hassle, it’s very unpopular too: More than 60 percent of Kentuckians support abolishing the ban. One mom-and-pop grocer even sued the state, but the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law earlier this year.

    6. It’s Illegal to Distill Spirits at Home




    Brewing beer at home is legal. So is fermenting wine.

    But budding craft distillers are out of luck. As one government spokesman put it, “If you distill without permits, you’re looking at roughly a dozen felonies.” Under federal law, anyone who distills homemade whiskey or vodka can be punished with up to five years in prison, $10,000 in fines or both. It’s even illegal in states like Colorado, which legalized growing marijuana for personal use.

    7. Utah Forces Restaurants to Hide Preparing Drinks



    Tear down this wall!

    In Utah, new restaurants that serve liquor can’t prepare alcoholic drinks in public view. Instead, they have to mix cocktails or open beer bottles behind a wall of frosted glass, nicknamed the “Zion curtain.” According to one poll, more than 60 percent of Utahns want to rip the Zion curtain apart.

    http://www.buzzfeed.com/nicks29/seve...n-america-4y3w



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  3. #2
    All "drinking laws" are crazy. They are either driven by those that want to exercise petty tyranny over their fellow man or those who would profit at their fellow man's inconvenience. Individuals in either group need to be put on wooden rafts and cast upon the tide.

  4. #3
    Another example of how government is only there to create unfair advantages to those who can bribe them the most and screw the rest of us..
    The ultimate minority is the individual. Protect the individual from Democracy and you will protect all groups of individuals
    Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual. - Thomas Jefferson
    I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

    - Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear

  5. #4
    Add that in Pennsylvania that you can only buy alcohol from the state.

  6. #5
    More about Utah's Zion curtain...

    Zion curtains are partitions unique to Utah restaurants that separate restaurant bartenders preparing alcoholic drinks from the customers who order them. These partitions are often made of frosted glass. They were mandated in hopes of combating excessive drinking by keeping alcohol out of sight of restaurant patrons who choose not to consume alcohol.[1]

    In May 2009, Utah governor Jon Huntsman signed legislation allowing existing restaurants to remove the partition, although future restaurants would be required to prepare alcoholic drinks outside of their patron’s immediate view.[2] Legislation enacted in 2010 restored the barriers as part of a broader compromise on alcohol reform; in 2013, the Utah legislature considered legislation removing the barriers permanently from all establishments,[1] although the legislation ultimately did not pass.[3]

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zion_curtains

  7. #6
    In NC you cannot buy alcohol from sometime saturday night after closing time until noon on sunday. I guess to keep people sober until after church back in the day?
    Sometimes I would eat lunch early on sunday at a bar just to watch the expressions of the tourists when they would find out. LOl!!

    On another note, I found out this summer that we had an ALE or Alcohol Law Enforcement when they(1 guy) "raided*" my buddy's pizza shop that I was working at. We were closed, cleaned up, counting money and about to leave and were partaking in our daily "shift beer" which was free at the end of the day. Apparently you cannot be in the kitchen or behind the counter with a beer whether the place is open or closed or be in the dining room drinking "in uniform" when open even if you were not working (the guy tried to explain but it never made sense and he just kept contradicting himself so I gave up trying). Manager got a warning for that and because our "cold beer" sign was a few inches too big because in the ALE guys words "you can't advertise "cold beer". I took this as a way to spread some messages and because of the guy being so rude, I got unanimous support at the end of the night by saying "so there is an ALE? Well I guess I just found another govt agency to get rid of."

    * by raided I mean the guy rushed in the back door, plain clothes, with his gun on his side like he was going to rob the place while money was being counted. I actually was thinking of whether the skillet or the rolling pin were closer to my reach. The guy never did id himself to me, only said "ALE" when I pressed him and didn't respond when I asked everyone "who is ALE?" in my most sarcastic voice. Later he told the owner that I "didn't respect authority figures" and the owner replied something like "he works fine for me". Lol
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    Nothing says Freedom like outlawing everything
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  8. #7
    It is illegal to drink beer from a bucket on the curb in St Louis .

  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by oyarde View Post
    It is illegal to drink beer from a bucket on the curb in St Louis .
    Good thing I wasn't in St Louis last night.



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  11. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Zippyjuan View Post
    Add that in Pennsylvania that you can only buy alcohol from the state.
    You used to have to go to bars to buy beer but I've heard for years now that some gas stations carry it.
    Lifetime member of more than 1 national gun organization and the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance. Part of Young Americans for Liberty and Campaign for Liberty. Free State Project participant and multi-year Free Talk Live AMPlifier.

  12. #10
    I sometimes go to a grocery store in KY that built their own liquor store. It's part of the same building, they just walled up sort of a wedge shaped section and gave it it's own entrance.



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