One-third of U.S. states have now legalized to-go cocktails and alcohol

To-go cocktails are here to stay, reports Josh Voorhees in Modern Farmer. A third of all states have already eased restrictions on restaurants and bars selling takeout cocktails and other alcoholic drinks. And it seems likely that more state legislatures will follow suit before adjourning. U.S. liquor law is a complex patchwork of ordinances that vary from county to county, or sometimes even town to town, because it’s based on local distribution laws. But the sweeping embrace of to-go cocktails in the wake of the Covid pandemic represents the most dramatic shift in liquor laws since states raised the legal drinking age three decades ago. Public health groups worry that easing regulations around the sale of alcohol will make it more accessible to underage drinkers. There’s also the question of whether Americans are over-imbibing to deal with pandemic stress. In a recent report from the American Psychological Association, a quarter of those surveyed stated they are drinking more since the beginning of the pandemic.