Why Does Booze Need To Be Bagged?

There are many things I don’t understand. For example, why does the month of June need an abbreviation? Or why don’t airlines have us board starting at the back of the plane?

Lately, I’ve wondered why it is that alcohol must be bagged after purchase.

This doesn’t make any sense. I can walk out of the store with a box of donuts in my hand. Same goes for a bunch of bananas. Why can't I do that with a bottle of scotch?

I wasted about three hours doing research looking for the answer. Apparently, everyone thinks it’s a law for alcohol to be bagged. Consumers think it’s a law. So do workers at markets and liquor stores.

But from what I found, no law in any of the 50 states explicitly dictates a requirement to bag alcoholic beverages.

California’s Department of Alcohol Control even put out an official statement to quell the confusion:

Over the past several years, the Department has received numerous inquiries concerning laws or rules that compel retail licensees to place alcoholic beverages in bags or other containers before handing the beverages to consumers.

Be advised that neither the provisions of the California Alcohol Beverage Control Act nor the Department’s business regulations require any licensee to put alcoholic beverage purchases in bags or other containers before customers leave the licensed premises. It is possible that some cities or counties may have enacted ordinances that require the bagging of alcoholic beverages. If so, licensees should adhere to these local ordinances.

It’s “possible” that there are ordinances? If the state can’t be sure, how the heck can the clerk at 7-11 be sure?

For argument’s sake, let’s assume that bagging alcohol is indeed an actual law. What would the rationale be for such a rule?

Some believe it's a matter of privacy, a leftover notion from a time when drinking wasn’t socially accepted and people wanted to be discreet about their habit.

Others say bagging alcohol is due to the cultural residue from our country's puritanical roots. I guess innocent children will be corrupted if they merely see a six-pack of craft brew or a bottle of Pinot Noir in the flesh.

And still others believe bagging may be a remnant of so-called “Blue laws” from the 17th century, which restricted activities in the colonies like dancing, hunting on Sunday, and of course alcohol consumption.

The most interesting theory is that the brown bag prevents people from getting open container violations. The thinking goes, since it’s illegal to walk down the street with an open beer in your hand, the bag gives cover to the drinker and frees up the cops to pursue more legitimate crimes. This idea was explored in the TV show The Wire

I like that one. Not only is it the most relevant explanation, it turns the act of bagging into a form of social engineering: The consumer pretends he’s not drinking alcohol in public, the police pretend they don’t see him drinking, conflict is avoided, everyone’s happy.

For a minute I thought, maybe there’s a conspiracy between alcoholic beverage companies and grocery bag manufacturers. They created the myth of required bagging, and coupled that with more persuasive beer, wine and liquor promotions. As sales increased, the need for bags rose as well; alcohol companies now get a cut of the increased bag revenue.

It’s a ludicrous idea, but that’s what happens when you can’t find clear and logical justification for the status quo. You make up stuff.

Let me know if you have a definitive answer to this bagging issue. As much as I want to know the truth, I have to move on to more important tasks.

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