States relax, repeal Prohibition-era alcohol laws

"Seventy-five years after the repeal of Prohibition, state lawmakers across the country are marking the anniversary by relaxing or eliminating some laws that have restricted alcohol sales since as long ago as the 1930s," John Gramlich writes for Stateline.org. "Colorado this week became the 35th state — and 13th since 2002 — to allow residents to buy alcohol on Sundays when a measure that won the approval of the General Assembly and Gov. Bill Ritter (D) in April formally took effect." Previously, only reduced-strength 3.2 beer was available on Sundays.

"Among the most obscure Prohibition-era statutes to be revised this year was a 1933 Wisconsin law prohibiting municipal officials from selling products or services to bars or other establishments with liquor licenses," Gramlich reports. "The law, originally intended to prevent conflicts of interest in the days when municipal officials — not the state — approved liquor licenses, drew attention when a local elected official in the city of Stevens Point was forced to resign a year ago after it became known that he ran a business that sold vacuum cleaners to pubs and restaurants. Several other municipal officials around Wisconsin also were forced to step down."

Gramlich writes, "Politicians, alcohol industry lobbyists and others who helped usher in the recent revisions in the states say the new laws reflect the public’s evolving views toward liquor and beer regulation." (Read more) We would add this speculation: The increasing suburbanization of America, and the decline of rural influences in state legislatures, probably has something to do with it.