Here’s a fun list of absurd alcohol laws from across the U.S. of A.. Some I suspect are dubious. But among the better-sourced entries:

After Michael O’Neil opened O’Neil’s Saloon, he was promptly informed by the state liquor authority that he was breaking the law by using the word “saloon.” He complied by changing the “S” into a “B,” thus making it O’Neil’s Baloon.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BAFT) bans the word “refreshing” to describe any alcohol beverage.

A young adult college student studying in Italy can’t have a glass of Chianti with dinner, according to the Drug Free Schools and Campuses Act. Students under the age of 21 are prohibited by the federal government from conforming to the drinking laws and customs of the countries in which they are studying. This, of course, is contrary to the educational goals underlying international education or study abroad programs.

Anyone under the age of 21 who takes out household trash containing even a single empty alcohol beverage container can be charged with illegal possession of alcohol in Missouri.

An owner or employee of an establishment in Iowa that sells alcohol can’t legally consume a drink there after closing for business.

It’s illegal in New Jersey for parents to give their children under the age of 18 even a sip of alcohol.

And to bring it all full-circle, there’s this:

Mark Phillips of Alexandria, Virginia, was arrested for selling a single bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild wine to an undercover agent in an Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) board sting.

Phillips, as leader of a local wine club had agreed to post the offer on the club’s web site on behalf of a member of the diplomatic service who needed to dispose of that bottle and a few others in preparation for an overseas tour of duty for the United States.

In making the arrest, ABC appeared at Phillips’ house with a dozen armed officers and held the accused and his family under guard while officers searched the house. They threatened to confiscate Phillips’ entire personal wine collection, not just the few bottles he offered for sale on behalf of a friend.

The case was dismissed on a technicality, but had Phillips been convicted of selling alcohol without a liscence, he could have faced one year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

What the hell? That’s two cases I’ve heard about in the last two days of a heavily armed raid by Virginia’s ABC regulators. The scary thing is, because the alcohol control bureaucrats are regulators and not law enforcement, they don’t need a search warrant. And they’re allowed to use hearsay to make their case against you.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 9th, 2006 at 12:11 pm by Radley Balko and is filed under Alcohol, There Oughtta Be a Law, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.