#DrunkenSocialism Hits A Snag in Virginia

How outrageous liquor laws are killing everyone's buzz.

Egalitarianism has hit the bottle with #drunkensocialism, a trend where bars and restaurants sell tastes of rare and expensive alcohol at cost to customers who would normally not be able to afford such fancy beverages. But current Virginia liquor laws are being a buzzkill when it comes to this new trend. 

Reason TV producer Austin Bragg recently visited a bar in Richmond, VA to investigate why "The Man" is messing with our high spirits. 

While it seems like a win-win scenario for all involved, the restrictive alcohol laws in Virginia make this new trend essentially illegal, according to John Maher, bartender and owner of The Rogue Gentlemen in Richmond. Under rules enforced by the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) a bar may not give away drinks or establish "a customary retail price for a drink at a markup over cost significantly less that that applied to other beverages of similar type, quantity, or volume."

"It's heartbreaking and it's stressful to deal with this nonsense," says Maher. "The lovely Prohibition-era rules that we have to follow make things very hard to be a bar in this state."