Alcohol Banned In These 8 Massachusetts Towns

The sale of alcohol remains prohibited in eight Massachusetts towns. Rockport, MA was the latest town to lift alcohol restrictions in the last twenty years, allowing restaurants to sell beer and wine in 2006. The town eventually permitted the sale of alcohol in stores in 2019.

Dry Counties In The U.S.

States like California currently have no municipalities that are dry, but states like Kansas, Missouri, and Tennessee have a ton.

What Is A Dry Town?

If a town is dry, the sale of alcoholic beverages is illegal. There are no liquor stores and alcoholic drinks are not permitted in restaurants.

Alcohol Banned In These 8 Massachusetts Towns

• Alford (Berkshire County)
• Dunstable (Middlesex County)
• Chilmark (Dukes County)
• Gosnold (Dukes County)
• Hawley (Franklin County)
• Montgomery (Hampden County)
• West Hampton (Hampshire County)
• Mount Washington (Berkshire County)

Why Would A Town Be Dry?

Prohibition ended in the U.S. in 1933, however, as you can see in the above illustration, the country is littered with dry spots.

Religious reasons play a role, but in the state of Alaska, for example, alcohol use disorder among its citizens is a factor.

How Do Residents In These Areas Buy Alcohol?

They simply head over to a bordering city or town to make the purchase. Tax revenue is often missed out in these communities.

Alcohol Use Disorder

What Are the Symptoms of Alcohol Use Disorder?

Health care professionals use criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), to assess whether a person has AUD and to determine the severity, if the disorder is present. Severity is based on the number of criteria a person meets based on their symptoms—mild (2–3 criteria), moderate (4–5 criteria), or severe (6 or more criteria).

A health care provider might ask the following questions to assess a person’s symptoms.

In the past year, have you:

• Had times when you ended up drinking more, or longer, than you intended?
• More than once wanted to cut down or stop drinking, or tried to, but couldn’t?
• Spent a lot of time drinking, being sick from drinking, or getting over other aftereffects?
• Wanted a drink so badly you couldn’t think of anything else?
• Found that drinking—or being sick from drinking—often interfered with taking care of your home or family? Or caused job troubles? Or school problems?
• Continued to drink even though it was causing trouble with your family or friends?
• Given up or cut back on activities you found important, interesting, or pleasurable so you could drink?
• More than once gotten into situations while or after drinking that increased your chances of getting hurt (such as driving, swimming, using machinery, walking in a dangerous area, or unsafe sexual behavior)?
• Continued to drink even though it was making you feel depressed or anxious or adding to another health problem? Or after having had an alcohol-related memory blackout?
• Had to drink much more than you once did to get the effect you want? Or found that your usual number of drinks had much less effect than before?
• Found that when the effects of alcohol were wearing off, you had withdrawal symptoms, such as trouble sleeping, shakiness, restlessness, nausea, sweating, a racing heart, dysphoria (feeling uneasy or unhappy), malaise (general sense of being unwell), feeling low, or a seizure? Or sensed things that were not there?

Any of these symptoms may be cause for concern. The more symptoms, the more urgent the need for change.