Weird Alcohol Laws on the Books
There are some fairly standard alcohol laws that most of us can get behind, like having a BAC (blood alcohol content) level too high to operate machinery and a legal age for drinking. But there are some others that make you say “Wait…what?” Here are just a few of the weird alcohol laws on the books around the country. Perhaps knowing a few of these tidbits will help you during your next night of local bar trivia.
Maine
Maine was the first state to prohibit manufacturing and sale of liquor in 1851. The ban only lasted 5 years, which was plenty long enough for those who like a little white wine with their melted-butter soaked lobster tails.
Then, ever since the nationwide prohibition, which was from 1919 to 1933, Maine legislators allowed communities to determine to their alcohol status. This leaves about 50 areas in Maine today that are completely dry.
But the whole state isn’t so stuffy. If St. Patrick’s Day lands on a Sunday, when one typically can’t buy alcohol before 9:00 am (cause you should be in church, you heathen!), they’ll look the other way while you buy armloads of beer at the crack of dawn.
Alabama
Keep the ladies off the labels and everything will be ok in Alabama. That’s right, in the heart of the Bible belt, you can drink your wine, but you won’t find any labels with “immodest or sensual” imagery. That would be just too much to bear! Now get me my Alabama Slammer or Yellowhammer and meet me on the side porch to watch this hurricane go through.
Ohio
“Feel free to drink like a fish in Ohio, but no matter how tempted you may be, do not give any alcohol to a fish.”
This oft-cited weird alcohol law is actually not true. There is nothing on the books in Ohio that says you can’t get a Bass as tipsy on Buckeye beers as you’d like. But it turns out there is some history with the strange, yet popular, non-law.
It wasn’t Ohio, but Oklahoma where there was a law on the books that you couldn’t poison to catch fish with “fish berries,” a native berry used to flavor a local distilled brew. Somehow, over time, it all got mixed up into getting fish drunk and a typo from Oklahoma to Ohio makes this one of the longest running alcohol myths to date.
South Carolina and Kentucky
Election day – A day where about half of the population will want a drink or two to celebrate, and the other half will want several more drinks to drown in their sorrows. Too bad if you live in South Carolina or Kentucky because there’s no drinking allowed on Election Day. But, go ahead and build up a hoard of liquor and beer in your home for that special day, because the law is actually just against serving it or selling it. Here’s to legal loopholes!