{"id":585,"date":"2014-06-20T15:59:01","date_gmt":"2014-06-20T15:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beer-syndicate.com\/blog\/?p=585"},"modified":"2016-12-14T15:41:24","modified_gmt":"2016-12-14T15:41:24","slug":"why-cant-americans-drink-in-public","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/beersyndicate.com\/blog\/why-cant-americans-drink-in-public\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Can\u2019t Americans Drink in Public?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why can\u2019t Americans drink in public?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a simple question. \u00a0Think about it:\u00a0 As Americans, we have a lot of freedom.\u00a0 Freedom to shoot our mouths and<\/em> guns off, freedom to drink booze, practice any religion we want, criticize our government, and much more.\u00a0 And unlike Germany, we even have the freedom to brew whatever crazy beer we want and call it “beer”.<\/span><\/p>\n

However there is something that Germany\u2019s got that we don\u2019t: The right to drink in public.\u00a0 And we\u2019re not talking about shamefully hiding your drink in a crinkled up\u00a0brown paper bag in some shady\u00a0back alley, cowering under the disapproving glares of others.\u00a0 No, we\u2019re talking about confidently strutting down the street in broad day light, head held high, drink in hand, and no one giving a second thought about it, not even the police.\u00a0 It\u2019s normal.\u00a0 It\u2019s socially accepted.\u00a0 It\u2019s legal.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Drinking<\/a><\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just a thing that teenagers or tourists do.\u00a0 Doctors, teachers, and lawyers do it.\u00a0 Men and women.\u00a0 Young and old.\u00a0 And no, you\u2019re not considered a low life drunk for enjoying a refreshing beer while waiting for the bus.\u00a0 As a matter of fact, in Berlin\u00a0and\u00a0many other German cities you can go right ahead and take that drink with you on the bus, or any other public transportation.\u00a0 It\u2019s perfectly legal.<\/span><\/p>\n

And if you think Germany\u2019s the only country in Europe with lax open container laws, think again. Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, and Portugal do not have any laws against drinking in public. In most other European countries, it\u2019s legal to drink in public with certain minor restrictions. \u00a0The attitude is so\u00a0laissez fair that you can even buy beer from vending machines.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Beer<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll admit it: I’ve got freedom-envy.\u00a0 Why should other countries have more freedom than we do?\u00a0 Land of the free<\/span>, home of the brave<\/em>?\u00a0 It\u2019s our freakin’ catch phrase for crying out loud.\u00a0 Freedom is what we do.\u00a0 It\u2019s who we are. \u00a0It’s our thing. \u00a0We stick up for other people\u2019s freedom, and we die for ours, so why can\u2019t we have a cold beer on a hot day on the street?\u00a0 Would it really offend you?<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe we have our priorities a little mixed up when we as Americans\u00a0are trusted to act responsibly with guns in public, yet not with a glass of beer. \u00a0To be fair, there are a handful of places in the U.S. that do allow drinking in public in some form or another including Las Vegas (on the strip), Butte, MT (between 8 am and 2 am), Sonoma, CA (between 11:30 am and dusk), and certain areas in New Orleans (French Quarter), Memphis (Beale Street)<\/a><\/span>, Kansas City, Savannah, GA (Historic District), Erie, PA (70 block downtown district<\/span>)<\/span><\/a>, Gulfport, MS, Hood River, OR, and at least two places in Texas: Fredericksberg (beer & wine in a plastic cup) and Fort Worth (The Stockyards area).<\/span><\/p>\n

Democracy and\u00a0Drinking<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As it stands, there is no federal<\/em> ban on the possession of open alcohol containers in public, so it is up to the individual states to call the shots.\u00a0 For the states that don\u2019t have state statues making it illegal to drink in public, they pass the decision-making buck\u00a0to the smaller municipalities or localities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Which brings us another American freedom I almost forgot about: The Freedom to Petition, or what I like to call The Freedom to Wish for More Wishes<\/em>.\u00a0 Don\u2019t like not having the freedom to enjoy a tasty brew where you want?\u00a0 You, my imbibing buddy, have the constitutional right to petition\u00a0to change it. \u00a0And if one were so inclined to petition to be allowed to say drink in public<\/em>, it might be helpful to have a list of the states that don\u2019t have state statues banning said drinking in public so that one would know to start with their local governments…<\/span><\/p>\n

The following states do not have state statues against drinking in public: AK, DE, FL, HI, ID, IL, IN, LA, MA, MN, MT, NV, NH, NJ, NY, ND, OR, PA, RI, TN, WI, and WY.<\/a>\u00a0<\/span> Not to leave anybody out, there\u2019s also no ban in Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. \u00a0In other words, if you\u2019re inspired to make it legal to have a drink while you\u2019re strolling down the street, your starting point is with your municipality, locality, county or town. \u00a0In these cases, you\u2019ll want to get in touch with your local councilman, supervisor, alderman, mayor, or county executive. \u00a0To prepare a bit, take a look at current cities\/municipalities in the U.S. that allow public drinking to see how their governments handled the issue.<\/span><\/p>\n

On a funny side note, California\u2019s state statue<\/a><\/span>\u00a0indicates\u00a0that it\u2019s only illegal to have open containers of alcohol IF<\/em><\/span> the city or county has an ordinance prohibiting it. \u00a0Sort of like when Mom used to say, \u2018I\u2019m OK\u00a0with it just as long as your Dad isn’t against it.\u2019 So\u00a0since\u00a0the city of Sonoma doesn’t have a ban on drinking in public (you are allowed to drink in public\u00a0between 11:30 am and dusk), the state of California doesn’t have a problem with it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, if you happen to reside in a state that does<\/em> have a state statue against drinking in public, your local state senator, assemblyman, or state house representative is the person to talk to. While you\u2019re at it, take a look at what Ohio state is doing with Senate Bill 116<\/a><\/span>\u00a0in\u00a0its attempt to legalize public drinking within “outdoor entertainment districts” thereby promoting tourism and economic development. \u00a0All the legal language and process is there. \u00a0Copy, paste, change names, submit. \u00a0AL, CO, MS, NE, and TX already have what Ohio’s hoping to obtain\u00a0which are\u00a0state statutes specifically allowing<\/em> for public drinking in specified entertainment districts or areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

In any\u00a0case, it doesn’t hurt to drop a line to deep pocketed alcohol distributors who have a political arm, like your state\u2019s equivalent of the California Beer & Beverage Distributors political action committee, who might have similar interests as you and the money to support your campaign. \u00a0Even a coalition of forward-thinking local restaurants and bars could form a lobby for support after seeing the benefit of revitalizing your city center by attracting more dollars and promoting tourism if laws permitted their customers to walk away from their establishment with a cup of an alcoholic beverage with their logo on that they just served you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just to be clear, I\u2019m not advocating public drunken disorderliness, or getting loaded and driving.\u00a0 I\u2019m talking about having a drink in public legally<\/em> and not feeling awkward about it, while at the same time\u00a0helping struggling towns and cities revitalize and generate some more tourist dollars.<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s already happening in cities across the U.S. to great success like on Beale Street in Tennessee (now Tennessee’s # 1 tourist destination), so why not run with it and make it happen in your town?<\/span><\/p>\n

Who knows, maybe they’ll name a park after you— a park you can legally have a beer in.<\/span><\/p>\n

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