Credit Where It’s Due: D.C.’s Forward-Looking Liquor Laws

C. Jarrett Dieterle is a fellow at the R Street Institute in Washington, D.C., and edits the website DrinksReform.org.

The Nation’s Capital has some of the Best Alcohol Laws in the Country

For those outside the Beltway, Washington is often a punchline for bloated and dysfunctional government. In fact, cynicism toward the nation’s capital often feels like one of the few truly bipartisan activities left in our country. But as a slate of recent changes in the District’s alcohol laws underscores, D.C. is a leader when it comes to forward-looking and rational drinks regulations.

Federal Prohibition was repealed more than 80 years ago, but most states still suffer under restrictive and backward regulatory regimes for alcohol. After Prohibition, states rushed to enact their own rules that either prohibit or tightly regulate every corner of the drinks market, and many of those rules still survive.

The worst post-Prohibition vestige likely is the three-tiered alcohol distribution system that m