Another Loopy Liquor Law
I know I tend to go on about this but the variety of silly laws regarding alcohol sales and consumption never cease to amaze me.
Last night I found myself in Mississippi. The night was warm and sticky and I wanted some seltzer – nothing quenches my thirst like the bland and bubbly.
Anyway, I saw a small liquor store so I stopped in found my water. I live in Missouri and I don’t often have occasion for booze buying in the great state of Mississippi. So I looked around a little bit – lots of wine, a very nice selection of whisky and lots of other sorts of distilled alcohol as well as the expected alcopops and mixers.
But not a drop of beer! Thinking that I’d missed it I circulated the little store twice to make sure that I hadn’t overlooked something. But no; there was simply no beer. I asked that guy at checkout about it and he told me that in Mississippi beer and other alcoholic beverages couldn’t be sold at the same location.
Where could I find beer? The grocery store.
Now what could possibly be the reasoning here? The wouldn’t-someone-think-of-the-children laws and the crazy religious laws at least come with their own sort of twisted logic but I can’t come up with any sort of reasoning that explains why beer must be segregated from other booze.
Amazing.
beer liqour law mississippiFiled under: Beer, whiskey, whisky, Alcohol Law on April 26th, 2008 |
Yes, Mississippi has some Bass-Ackwards alcohol laws. We are working to change that.
Cheers!
Same thing in New York; beer may be sold in super markets but cannot be sold in liquor stores. Some establishments, like Trader Joe’s (supermarket) in New York City sells beer, but next door to it is a seperate wine store so it could sell wine.
Everyone is used to what they are used to - and everything else is “weird”. I recall visiting relatives in PA from my home in MS during my childhood and amazed that beer was only available at distributors in quantities of a case or more - never a cold six pack from the local convenience store. I’m glad each state holds onto their own quirks. It is one of the last forms of individualism left.