Fifty States of Inebriation
Each state has its own relationship and regulations for intoxicants. After prohibition, the drinking laws were different in each state. A highway bill passed by the feds standardized things like the drinking age and began a trend of sameness that takes some of the fun out of drinking your way across the country.
Luckily, the states have decided to buck the boring blanket of restrictions the feds think we need. We have a new landscape of dope laws to entertain us. Two states have legalized marijuana and several more have some kind of medical marijuana option. In the coming years, we are going to see states experimenting with new laws and regulations as the country staggers down the road to embracing intoxicants.
We have collected what we can find about the laws about intoxicants in each state. What we can use is your stories about adventures with the law in your state. Click on the comments link to tell us what you have run into.
Things are changing fast for legalized marijuana in the United States. To help you keep track of where we are, check out this article: http://www.freedomleaf.com/state_by_state_the_next_big_moves_for_legal_marijuana
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AlabamaThe LawAlabama does not allow medical or recreational marijuana. Possession of up to a kilo of marijuana or paraphernalia can land you in jail for up to a year and earn you a $6000 fine. More than that and the penalty goes up to 10 years and $15,000. A medical marijuana bill was up for a vote in the legislature in 2011, but it did not pass. Alabama is one of the states that includes dry counties where drinking is prohibited. In the legal counties, you can get beer or wine in grocery or convenience stores, but when the alcohol content is above 14%, you have to go to an ABC store. On the road, Alabama has the federally mandated rules about no open containers and 0.08% BAC limit.
High LifeAlabama is more sober than most states. 39.17% of people surveyed there reported having a drink in the last month. 9.01% reported using marijuana in the last year. The state has some of the strictest prohibition laws in the country. In fact, two thirds of the counties in Alabama are "Dry" - no alcohol sales allowed. The restrictive attitude reflects the feelings of the residents - 46.68% of people there believe that there is a severe health risk from drinking. Even more folks (51.08%) believe that there is a severe health risk from marijuana. Query: SELECT COUNT(*) AS Comments FROM Messages WHERE TopicID=19 AND ChatType="Discussion" failed: Unknown column 'TopicID' in 'where clause' |