Alcoholic Beverage Laws

Although the consumption of alcohol is a common happening in today’s society, there are many laws that protect others from the effects of someone else’s drinking and the problems that it can potentially cause. These laws are there to prevent accidents and injuries to both the person consuming the alcoholic beverages as well as those around them.

Public Intoxication - The public intoxication law prohibits people who are under the influence while walking around in public. This prevents irrational behavior such as an outburst or fight being caused by the person who has consumed too much alcohol. The punishment for breaking this law will vary state by state.

Drinking & Driving - Drinking and driving is very dangerous, and for that reason there are very strict laws in place in most states. Drinking and driving can cause the impaired driver to cause an accident to their impairment. This can cause bodily injury to both the person driving as well as innocent bystanders. For this reason the court does not handout light sentences for this type of infraction to the law.

Limiting Sales - Some states limit sales of alcoholic beverages on certain days of the week or ban sales in certain counties of their state. An example of this is in Indiana, they do not sell alcoholic beverages on Sundays. These limitations are set at a state level and will vary greatly state by state.

Legal Drinking Age - The legal drinking age is set at the federal level; it is currently set at the age of 21. This is how old you must be to either purchase alcoholic beverages at a retail store, or to be served alcoholic beverages at a bar.

Retail Licensing - All business establishments that want to offer alcoholic beverages for sale, will have to legally obtain a license from the state. Many states also require classes be taken educating business owners of the many laws associated with the sales of alcoholic beverages.