Wow! States Ranked Best & Worst Places to Drink, Where Did Massachusetts Land?
Massachusetts has a reputation for a lot of things and while booze might not be the first thing that comes to mind, it does have a long history in the Bay State.
Historians agree that bars in Massachusetts are about as old as the state itself. Early settlers wasted no time setting up local taverns before schoolhouses in some cases.
In fact, Massachusetts is home to what are believed to be the oldest bars in the United States like the Green Dragon Tavern which dates back to 1654, or Warren Tavern in Charlestown which was the first building to be erected in Charlestown after the British burned the whole town during the Battle of Bunker Hill in June of 1777.
So with the deep, long standing relationship with alcohol, you would think that Massachusetts would be a great place to kick back and have couple of cocktails with friends, right? Wrong. At least according to Time Magazine.
The periodical ranked the three best and worst states to consume alcohol and not only did Massachusetts NOT make the top three, we were ranked the second to worst state to drink in. The only state that Time considers a worst place to drink is Utah, where due to a strong religious presence, has extremely strict rules surrounding the consumption and sales of booze and many counties that are completely dry, void of alcohol.
Here's the reasoning on why Massachusetts ranked so low:
Massachusetts is well-known for its many colleges and universities, but the state’s laws seemed aimed at preventing these students from having very much fun. Out of state drivers licenses aren’t acceptable proofs of age under state law, meaning that out-of-state visitors can get turned away from bars. Bars are also prohibited from allowing drinking games on their premises, and perhaps worst of all, happy hours are banned state wide.
Time Magazine
Pennsylvania came in at number three of the worst states to drink in due some crazy regulations surrounding where you can buy what kinds of booze. In Pennsylvania, all wine and liquor sold is sold by state-owned liquor stores, however these stores don’t sell beer. If you want beer, there are "beer distributors", however they are only allowed to sell cases. Any amount of beer less than that can only be purchased at a restaurant with a liquor control board-issued license. Complicated, right?
The three best states to drink? Coming in at number one is Missouri, number two, Nevada and number tree, Wisconsin.