Alcohol/brown paper bags....??

Question

What's the point of this American law?

Answer 1

I actually know this one!!!!

Ok, back in the 20's, America had this extremely dark time known as "Prohibition", where all alcohol was banned. I know, frightfull, but true. Anyway, we got that one repealed.

Well, a few years later, specifically in the burrows of New York and in Chicago, local leaders decided to head back down that horrible past and started making it illegal to drink in public. Well, in the 40's and 50's people didn't have A/C, so where what did they do when they got home from work? That's right, they grabbed a brew and headed outside to drink a cold one on their stoops.

You can see how this goes against the new laws. So, the citizens who wanted to drink, and the police who had better things to do (but they couldn't just ignore the new law), decided that as long as the cops couldn't tell that it was alcohol from when they drove by, that they couldn't do anything about it. So, a new American tradition of selling alcohol to go in little paper bags came to be.

I'm not kidding, this is the God's honest truth! Simplified for the media constraints here, but true none-the-less.

Answer 2

Most municipalities in the US have laws prohibiting the consumption of alcohol in public areas. It has become known as the open container law. We also have a law prohibiting the police from stopping and searching someone without just cause.
So people that feel the need to drink in public have taken to keeping the bottle in a bag to shield it from the eyes of the police. If the person is not causing a problem, the police in most cases would leave the person alone.

Answer 3

Not aware of it being a law, just more either tradition or common view. It is usually the homeless that people picture doing it. Maybe they are supposed to be ashamed they are drinking, maybe it is the cops will leave them alone. After all the cop figures you are homeless you have to drink on the street so as long as we can pretend we don't know what it is we will leave you alone. After all the cops know what is most likely the contents.

OK stores DON'T have to put it in brown paper bags. When you buy larger amounts they will put them in tan PLASTIC bags. I live in Pennsylvania and we have STATE STORES. As in the Liquor Control Board RUNS the stores. So to the one claiming it is a law in every state, well I guess PA is a COMMONWEALTH not a State but still. At least if this is just a refrence to buying it. For the record large amounts can be as much as two bottles and making mixed drinks as to why I was buying the amounts.

Answer 4

Many American municipalities enforce a no public drinking of alcoholic beverages in public law. The brown paper bag, or any neutral bag or container, is merely an attempt to conceal one's drinking in public.

Answer 5

What American Law?

Answer 6

What law?

The placing of your alcohol purchase in a brown paper bag (or any other colour, for that matter) serves no useful purpose anyway - it's simply unnecessary excess packaging!

Answer 7

I don't know of a national law on that. I think the paper bag adds a little bit of cushion around the bottle, but I don't think it's a law.

Answer 8

I don't know about it being a law, but I do know that everyone else knows what is in that bag. It is a big clue. No hiding it that way. It makes me think of alcoholics or desperate people.

Answer 9

Plastic, i visit re use a plastic bag. i have had a similar 4 re-usable bags for over 2 years now and they are nevertheless going solid, opt to work out a paper one do this. i might want to need a organic fibre one, yet have you ever seen what shops charge for those? My lady friend tells me paper bags take a lot extra skill to produce too

Answer 10

Do you mean why do people drink alcohol out of brown paper bags? If so, it's so passing police don't know what the drinker is drinking (it is illegal, both in the UK and US, to consume alcohol out in the open, like on the streets, etc).