Puratinism at its Worst: Alcohol Laws in the U.S.

I was reading Women by Charles Bukowski today. At one point, Henry Chinaski--the same thinly-veiled autobiographical character seen in Bukowski's other books--runs out of liquor and has to wait until 6am for the store to open:

"Then we were out on the porch, wrestling. We tripped on the stairs and fell to the pavement. The bottle smashed and broke on the cement. She got up and ran off. I heard her car start. I lay there and looked at the broken bottle. I was a foot away. Lydia drove off. The moon was still up. In the bottom of what was left of the bottle I could see a swallow of scotch. Stretched out there on the pavement I reached for it and lifted it to my mouth. A long shard of glass almost poked into one of my eyes as I drank what remained. Then I got up and went inside. The thirst in me was terrible. I walked around picking up beer bottles and drinking the bit that remained in each one. Once I got a mouthful of ashes as I often used beer bottles for ashtrays. It was 4:14 AM. I sat and watched the clock. It was like working in the post office again. Time was motionless while existence was a throbbing unbearable thing. I waited. I waited. I waited. Finally it was 6 AM. I walked to the corner to the liquor store. A clerk was opening up. He let me in. I purchased another pint of Cutty Sark. I walked back home, locked the door and phoned Lydia.
'I have here one pint of Cutty Shark from which I am peeling the cellophane . I am going to have a drink. And the liquor store will now be open for 20 hours.'
She hung up. I had one drink and then walked into the bedroom, stretched out on the bed, and went to sleep without taking off my clothes.

I looked up California's alcohol laws and sure enough, business cannot sell alcohol between 2 and 6 AM. As it turns out, that's the same law as in Washington, except here we have state-run liquor stores. Looking at the length of that list on Wikipedia and the myriad of laws for each state, I don't think I've seen anything so ridiculous. I can understand that some states may want to control liquor sales in special circumstances such as in Utah where religion is involved (on the other hand, why mandate it on everyone?). But why restrict the hours. If there's demand, why shouldn't businesses be able to sell alcohol when they want to? I've been to many bars in Seattle that are full at 1:45 AM but have to close up. It doesn't make any sense. And what if my working hours are 6PM-3AM for example. Why can't I buy alcohol when I get off work? Seems discriminatory to me. Even if I don't work, why should the government tell me when it's OK to buy alcohol? I think I like Nevada's law the best:




As for the age restriction, it's another example of how politics can go wrong. You can vote and be forced into the military at age 18, but you can't be trusted to drink? See the article "MADDness" for more detail.