Comment on Saw this at the store this morning, took a double take
Rooster326@programming.dev 1 month agoWhy doe?
Ok, I did the digging on this because you asked. I actually just assumed because I was carded for NA beer that this was a law.
In the US, federally it is not illegal to sell less than 0.5% without carding. But many states treat NA beer the same as normal beer and they require the person be over 21. In the states that do not require 21 and over for NA beer many (most) stores and bars will still card because its better safe than sorry when it comes to ABC and losing your license.
Technically the drinking age isn’t a national law at all. Setting the state law to alignment is a precondition for national highway funding. A state can set the age to whatever they want, but the federal government wouldn’t give money for road maintenance.
As such, different states define a prohibited beverage in different ways. Some set the limit based on a set alcohol limit. Others based on intent or similarity, essentially so that they can prevent advertising alcohol^free^ beverages to kids and getting them in the habit at an impressionable age.
Most common is the abv limit based on what’s typically found naturally in juices and such, with limited exceptions for religious ceremonies, parental supervision, or accidental ingestion and such. (Technically speaking, if you call 911 because your 3 year old stole a canned alcoholic beverage off the counter and drank a bunch before you noticed and you’re scared, they would be required to also give you and the child legal penalties without that clause).
I saw a pregnant person drink a non alcoholic beer. I guess it’s better than nothing? I could imagine a pregnant person craving a beer, but wanting to avoid alcohol.
The only reason I can see someone choosing NA beer over real beer would be alcoholism but that seems to be playing with fire.
I choose NA beer for that exact reason and its been a really big tool for me to keep my sobriety. It works for some and for others it doesn’t but I am glad its available as an option for me. But had I never started drinking in the first place I would not like beer, so I am not sure why anyone would buy NA beer unless, like me, they are trying to scratch an itch that can’t be scratched like it was before.
Eliminating reasonableness is the first step in creating an abusive legal system.
Sure, because teens won’t buy 0 % beer and mix in some regular beers, that would never happen.
Correct, if they had access to that regular beer, they’d just drink the regular beer and not bother diluting it.
Oh no, don’t let the children… dilute their illegally acquired alcohol…
But if questioned why their breath smells like beer, it was the 0%.
The real reason is you don’t. Not in every state. Some defined it by a strict measurable standard. Others defined it to close off what’s depicted in this image. Others defined it to describe what was banned as oppressed to what you measure, so that if you’re selling beer you can’t sell it to kids. No checking labels, no “well, it’s my home brew so I don’t know”. Is it beer? You can’t sell it to kids.
The last one is almost funny because you can almost feel the confusion about why the concept of non-alcoholic beer even exists.
Because it’s beer. Generally the way laws are written in the us, they call out beer, wine, and spirits, or some such wording, not being available to under 21s.
Laws generally do not mention alcohol content of whatever it is you’re buying.
Vice is difficult to regulate, and laws surrounding vice are imperfect
The same reason why vapes are considered “tobacco products” despite not containing any tobacco and considered “flavored” if they contain any flavor (or no flavor) besides “tobacco” flavor (which is actually just caramel flavoring since vape juice has no flavor by default). It’s because politicians are stupid and short sighted and most of these regulations make little sense outside of government control.
postmateDumbass@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Rates of alcohol use and addiction have been decreasing.
This is just getting them started early like cigarettes always tried to do.