Inspired by this thread talking about where you live I was reminiscing about the awesome liquor laws when I lived in New Hampshire, you can buy any day of the week until 11:45PM, there's no sales tax on booze, no deposits on bottles and the state runs the liquors stores so everything is super cheap. I now live in CT where they have to stop selling at 9PM, they can't sell on Sundays or Holidays (the only state in New England that enforces this blasphemy) and they impose state minimums on what stores can charge for certain products! That means that even if a liquor store wants to sell bottle of wine X for $13, if the state has a minimum for X at $15 the store has to sell it at $15 (great state to own a liquor store). Also, they tax the hell out of it here. And I love the blatant hypocrisy of not having liquor stores open on Sundays "OK, we don't want you having a few beers with your Sunday BBQ but you can get shitfaced at the bar and drive home." Now obviously given the in-elasticity of the alcohol market everyone with common sense just stocks up on booze before the weekend, but still c'mon, I thought this was America. I stumbled upon this convenient Wikipedia article that lays out all the liquor laws in all states. Focus: Where do you live, what are the liquor laws like and how do people work around them? Alt Focus: What liquor laws are your favorite/least favorite? All I can say is thank god I don't live in Utah
Ive been to New Orleans twice in the past year. Honestly the lax open container laws should be adopted by any city serious about drumming up their city's business.
Yes. It is like this throughout a lot of the state, depending on which Parish you are in. Its been mentioned before, but the biggest example of the lax laws of the area are the drive-thru daiquiri shops. I have 4-5 in my town alone. You can get mixed drinks too (I've never tried to order a beer, so I don't know how that works). The logic is that it is not considered an open container until you put the straw into the lid, or remove the tape from the hole in the lid, or in some cases, remove the last bit of wrapper from the straw while it is already in your drink. Once again, it all depends on the Parish you are in. I happen to live in a place that has these drive-thrus, yet I have to go one Parish over if I want to buy liquor on a Sunday. I can still buy beer though if it is under 6%. The laws here are weird. But fun.
The laws in Ontario are similar to those that Frank mentioned in CT. All liquor and beer stores are run by the province, there is also the minimum price that things can be sold. Needless to say I really dislike the way liquor is handled here. Recently, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario banned Dan Akroyd's Crystal Head Vodka (link). Their reasons include that teenagers would binge drink a 60 dollar bottle of vodka. What the fuck?
I am actually not sure what the exact laws are and what they do and do not allow. From what I heard on and saw on the street it seemed like a total free for all as far as open beer/liquor containers. For the few days I was there over New Years I saw people guzzling drinks on the street at all hours of the day with out ever being stopped or hassled by cops. Unfortunately they were really lax with the public urination laws which meant the streets smelled of piss and open sewage. edit: Saw that coming. edit 2: So far in China the biggest thing is that there seems to be no 2 am bar closing policy. Some bars do, a lot don't. Ive heard other American cities are like this. It is a toss up, while it is fun, 2-6am moves mighty fast. It has burned my brother when he's had to work the next day and both times Ive had a chance to hook up with different European girls ended real quick when the sobering sight of the sun hit us.
Nevada has some very lax liqour laws. Bars and stores can sell it at all hours, and there are no restrictions besides the age limit. The best has to be this though.
I also live in CT. It's a huge pain in the ass that I can't buy beer on Sundays, especially during football season. I've woke up many Sunday mornings only to find that my "Sunday stash" of beer was destroyed the night before when I decided that I hadn't finished drinking quite yet. I'm not ashamed to say that I've driven into Port Chester, NY on a couple occasions to buy beer and bring it back. Most of the time, as Frank mentioned, you just plan ahead and buy beer for the weekend on Saturday. Or you just go to a bar on Sunday. As for the prices, that's just CT. Everything here is expensive, from our gas to our booze. I've lived here for so long that I'm used to it. Not overly pleased, but used to it.
The laws in America sound rubbish. In England there are 24hour licences for bars and stores to sell alcohol. Often when the clubs shut we would head to the 24hour supermarket buy a crate and drink them on the canal. In Ireland, it's a bit more restrictive, but not too bad. Just a bit harder to get an alcohol licence and earlier closing hours. I despise alcohol laws, it should be totally de-regulated. What right does the state have to get between me and my beer?
I am currently helping with Initiative 1100, which would help to repeal and modernize Washington States asinine, antiquated liquor laws. First of all, the state is the only entity which can sell (bottled) hard liquor. Only a handful of stores are open Sundays, and they all close around 8PM during the week. Not to mention the markup. The price of a bottle of liquor in WA is made up as follows: 33% State Tax 28% Markup (Gross Profit) 14% Federal Tax 25% Distillery Price So the state is making 61%. I'll let that sink in for a second. 61%! 1100 would remove a lot of the restrictions on liquor sales, while increasing the state's profits (from increased licensing fees and higher sales), and return the state liquor control board to an enforcer and educator, rather than a retailer. (There's a great article HERE about 1100 if you're interested) God I hope this passes. I might move to Vegas if it doesn't... **EDIT: Not to mention, I hate that the selection of liquor is dictated by the state. Few (if any) stores have any decent craft or micro-distillery options, which really pisses me off.
Ontario isn't horrible in terms of time restrictions (liquor stores are still open on Sundays, though not as late at night unfortunatly) though they make up for it by forcing you to buy through either a province-run liquor store or beer store (LCBO and The Beer Store, espectively) complete with mandetory minimum prices (which actually just ended a bunch of cheep beer's marketing campaigns for $1 bottles).
In most of WI, liquor sales M-Sun are until 9pm in grocery stores, gas stations and liquor stores (though there are certain cities that can sell until 11pm). Even taverns are held to the 9pm cut-off on carry-outs. Notably, while bar-close is 2am M-F and 230 Sat and Sun, there is no closing time for New Years Eve (an exception I make damn good use of every year). Also, bars may open all week at 6am. While I am unfamiliar with laws in other states, I often encounter various expressions of incredulity when I inform out-of-staters that minors are allowed to partake of alcolholic beverages in bars as long as they are accompanied by a parent or guardian. This is HUGELY prevalent in smaller cities where it's totally common for parents to be seen knocking back a few (see: 45) beers with their 17 year old son or daughter. (I have about 5 "bar friends" who drink with their kids this age with depressing regularity). As a side note, with the new smoking ban, there are numerous taverns that have given a big side-eye to the rules and are allowing smoking in their bars because they'd "rather pay the $200 fine than lose $2,000 a week in sales." Unfortch for those misinformed smoking patrons, the fine to the establishment is a warning, followed by maybe a $100 fine -- not more than once a day, mind you -- whereas the smoker gets a $250 fine -- per violation -- and sans the friendly warning. Though the bartender is supposed to refuse to serve a smoker, its hard to feign indignation at their blantant rule-breaking when they're the person who HANDED THE SMOKER AN ASHTRAY. As a sporadic smoker myself, I find that I've just been refraining in any event, but my local tap places ashtrays and matches right out on the tables and bar, as they mumble to their unsuspecting customers that they'd rather pay the fine than lose the business. You know...that little baby fine they may or may not even get.
Savannah, GA too. But otherwise fuck Georgia. NO alcohol sales on Sunday, so either stock up or you're going to the bar. No happy hours allowed in Atlanta either, 2-for-1s at Chilis, no such thing. Florida is awesome. There are liquor stores everywhere. Every super-market has one attached. If the bars are open you can buy beer, and after 2 I believe, you only have 6 hours to worry about sobering up.
California is pretty lax in liquor laws. Bars can only be open until 2am (who cares, I am usually passed out by 12am) and you can't buy liquor from 2 am until 6am. I have always wondered though about the people who live in places where you can't buy booze x day or after y hour, don't you eventually get to the point where it is just automatic to stock up during the times when you can buy booze?
You'd be shocked how many people 'forget' about this when they're invited to someone's house that always keeps a well stocked fridge. But don't worry, they'll always get you back... Honestly though, most of the people who get screwed over by this from what I've seen are: A.) Very casual drinkers (have a few beers with dinner on special occasions) that honestly do forget. B.) People who have more guests than expected on Saturday night that brought cash for beer and run out of their supply. or C.) People named Frank who recently moved here from Boston that invited his friends who don't know the rules down even though I fucking told them about the stupid laws and to stock up before they cross the fucking border. No, I'm not bitter
I live in a damp county, meaning that beer and wine are sold here. For anything else I have to drive 15 minutes to the next county. Thank God I'm surrounded by one that's wet. No crazy Sunday law, though. If we're going to church we needed to come home and get sauced.
I live in Colorado and liquor stores can only stay open until midnight. Being that I'm from Wyoming, I thought this was fucking crazy although it's nothing compared to a lot of states. In WY liquor stores are open until two, just like the bars. Legally, the bars in WY can open at 6 am although I've never seen this happen. The taxes in Colorado are much higher on alcohol than WY so every time I visit my parents in WY I always stop in Cheyenne to stock up before crossing the border. As a minor in WY it is legal to drink in your parents' house as long as you have their permission. Two years ago Colorado passed a law that made it legal for liquor stores to be open on Sundays as long as they close by 8. Until 2005 it was legal for passengers in a vehicle to have open containers in WY.
I feel your pain. We have a drive-thru liquor store for the efficient drunk driver, but god forbid we open it on a sunday.
Massachusetts used to be pretty retarded about booze on sundays, but ever since we got rid of that, it's been pretty painless. 1 or 2am closing time for bars, and most stores close at 10-11pm, so no 3am beer run. Also, open container laws are probably pretty asinine, but I've never run afoul of them. My favorite booze law was when I went to Cancun: apparently, stores can't sell liquor on election days. However, I guess it's perfectly fine to pay people to have your political opponents murdered.
In Texas, it's town by town with respect to beer, wine and liquor sales. Some towns prohibit sale of all three, some allow beer and wine only, some allow all three. My town just voted in liquor sales (before this, one would have to drive to either Ft. Worth or into Dallas county to obtain hard liquor) and so far, 2 convenience stores have been granted liquor licenses, and there are 5 others with applications pending. None of the surrounding municipalities permit hard liquor sales (I'm talking by the bottle, not mixed drinks in restaurants/bars), so my town should see a hefty rise in tax revenue. A correlated increase in drunk driving offenses is debatable (and it was debated). If they want it, they're going to get it, now they just won't have to drive as far, but we'll see. Beer and wine cannot be purchased before noon on Sunday, and I believe liquor stores are closed on Sunday by state law (I always hit it up on Friday to stock up). Some communities in Dallas county have this club membership thing where you have to show an ID in order to be served (which the establishment will provide if you don't already have one). I never quite understood it, but I didn't do much drinking in those communities, so it didn't spend much time on my radar. I think official bar time is 2am, 3am on Saturday, but this may vary by town (and establishment) as well. One bar I hung out in closed at 10 pm M-Th, and 11 pm on Fri & Sat. and was closed on Sunday (even during football season--talk about a poor business decision), but we'd close it and then head to another place that officially closed at 2 am, but if the owner was there and everyone was having a good time, he had no problem locking the door and keep serving. Apparently, with the right Italian last name, you can do that. When all else failed, I had my kegerator on the patio and always had a back-up 1.5l bottle of Jager in the freezer in the garage.
I was in Boston a few months back and encountered the most retarded liquor law of them all. I was sitting on a patio smoking, and I got yelled at by a bouncer, and a waiter. As if this wasn't bad enough. The patio closed ten minutes later. At 11pm on a Saturday. Apparently there was some sort of noise ordinance in effect. Frebis- "Why in the fuck are you kicking me off the patio at 11?" Bouncer- "Call ya Gubna!" Frebis- "Why can't I smoke on it?" Bouncer- "Call ya Gubna!" I aslo understand that having happy hour prices is illegal in Boston? I'm not sure what is more retarded, the Kennedy's, the accent or the liquor laws.