Coronavirus and drinking
0 responses | 0 likes
Started by metmike - May 18, 2020, 2:21 p.m.

Coronavirus: How the pandemic is relaxing US drinking laws

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52656756

Coronavirus has Americans picking up two new summer accessories: a mask and an alcoholic to-go drink.

After weeks of sheltering in place, many Americans are looking for ways to cut loose.

With bars and restaurants closed to the public in most states, and summer weather approaching, that means that many are heading outdoors to relax and socialise. 

And for some, that means having a drink - sometimes in spite of the law. 

Veteran drinks writer Amanda Schuster says that in her neighbourhood of Brooklyn, New York, "it seems like everyone's over" prohibitions on public drinking.

"It's as if people have the attitude that 'no one's going to arrest us for this when they have other things to do,'" Ms Schuster, who is the editor-in-chief for online magazine Alcohol Professor, told the BBC. 

This laissez-faire approach is something Americans used to have to go abroad to experience.

While an 18-year-old can walk into a London pub and order a pint, the national minimum age to purchase alcohol in the US has been 21 since 1984, when Congress passed the Minimum Drinking Age Act, in part over concerns about drink-driving fatalities. 

Comments
No replies yet. Be the first!