# Are there states where something is uniquely illegal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 7, 2021, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195 "2021-08-07T14:58:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/21 "2021-08-07T19:34:54Z")
> [@Redcanoe](#): > > Oregon still bans self service gas. There was a temporary lifting of the ban for Covid, but I never saw it in action. I live in Portland and recently had to travel out near the Idaho border–the Sinclair station in Boardman still had a pump jockey but the big truck stops like Love’s and Pilot out further are all self pump now, and it’s a raging pain in the ass for those of us who prefer to deal on a cash basis. Nothing like having to wait in line TWICE as well as handling stinky pump handles. Grump. ---
**Author:** ![K2500](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f6c823/32.png) [@K2500](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K2500)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/22 "2021-08-07T19:52:26Z")
Texas horned lizards are considered a threatened species by the TPWD but not by the feds. Possessing them is illegal in the state. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/23 "2021-08-07T20:02:25Z")
Currently, the PA inspection code states - **§ 175.77 (f) Doors. A vehicle specified under this subchapter shall be equipped with doors of a type used as original equipment. The doors shall open and close securely unless the vehicle has been manufactured or modified to the extent that there is no roof or side. Tailgates, except on vehicles where the tailgate gives access to the passenger compartment, may be replaced with wood planking, nets or other material that will prevent loss of load. Tailgates may be removed when optional equipment, for example a truck camper, is added.** _However_, our Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman has posted a selfie in his Jeep without doors or roof on Twitter and maybe Facebook. Lotsa Pennsylvanians drive their Jeep’s without doors and a few have been ticketed. Lotsa Pennsylvanian cops drive their Jeep’s without doors. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/24 "2021-08-07T20:27:18Z")
Alcohol laws are hugely variant. In Pennsylvania, for example, you buy alcohol at the “State Store” - a weird term if you think about it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/25 "2021-08-07T20:40:50Z")
Kegs of beer are illegal in Utah. State law prohibits selling, purchasing, or possessing any beer in a container larger than two liters. There is an exemption for licensed businesses to serve beer from a larger container and for other licensed businesses to sell larger containers of beer to those businesses. But private citizens can’t just buy a keg for a party. > 32B-4-406 Unlawful sale, offer for sale, or furnishing of an alcoholic product. > (1) Except as provided in Subsection (2): > (a) a person may not sell, offer for sale, or furnish beer to the general public in a container that exceeds two liters; and > (b) a person may not purchase or possess beer in a container that exceeds two liters. > (2) > (a) A retail licensee may sell, offer for sale, or furnish beer on draft subject to the requirements of Section 32B-5-304. > (b) A retail licensee may purchase or possess beer in a container that exceeds two liters to be dispensed on draft for consumption subject to the requirements of Section 32B-5-304. > (c) A beer wholesaler licensee may sell, offer for sale, or furnish beer in a container that exceeds two liters to a retail licensee described in Subsection (2)(a). ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/26 "2021-08-07T21:02:13Z")
It’s illegal to possess magic mushroom spores in Idaho and Georgia. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/27 "2021-08-07T21:09:29Z")
It’s illegal to touch a Hawaiian Monk seal in Hawaii. [https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/local-news/2021-07-14/tourists-fined-for-touching-endangered-hawaiian-monk-seal-on-kauai](https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/local-news/2021-07-14/tourists-fined-for-touching-endangered-hawaiian-monk-seal-on-kauai) ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/28 "2021-08-07T21:13:22Z")
A question of local culture/enforcement standards rather than law (and those may have changed, this is a story from the 1970s): Boston drivers are (were?) famously aggressive and pedestrian behavior follows suit; jaywalking is routine and the decision whether to cross the street is made based on whether any vehicles are visible bearing down, not what the walk signal says. So, an old boyfriend from Boston was visiting California and, as was his habit, he jaywalked. Two cops stopped him for it. He was so astonished that without thinking, he blurted, “But in Boston we do that all the time!” One cop turned to the other, smirked, and mimicked sarcastically, “Didja hear that, Fred? _In Boston we do that all the time!_” A ticket was issued forthwith. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/29 "2021-08-07T21:34:36Z")
Radar Detectors are illegal in Virginia. AFAIK, no other state has such a law. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/30 "2021-08-07T21:43:40Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > One cop turned to the other, smirked, and mimicked sarcastically, “Didja hear that, Fred? _In Boston we do that all the time!_ ” > > A ticket was issued forthwith. I think that’s more of a California thing than a Boston thing. I did spend my college and graduate years in Boston (OK Cambridge really), but it’s about the same in Cleveland, Chicago, New York and Connecticut as far as I can tell. Once I was n San Francisco and started to cross a minor street at an intersection with a bigger one against the light. A cop standing directing traffic said, “Wait for the walk light\>” So I stepped back on the curb. When my walk light came on, I started again. He said “Wait until I say OK to cross.” I bit my tongue and didn’t tell him I was only doing what he’d told me to do. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/31 "2021-08-07T22:07:13Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Kegs of beer are illegal in Utah. State law prohibits selling, purchasing, or possessing any beer in a container larger than two liters. There is an exemption for licensed businesses to serve beer from a larger container and for other licensed businesses to sell larger containers of beer to those businesses. But private citizens can’t just buy a keg for a party. It is also illegal to bring alcohol into Utah, with a few exceptions. E.g, a person flying in from another country can bring two liters of liquor. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/32 "2021-08-07T22:19:08Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > _However_, our Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman has posted a selfie in his Jeep without doors or roof on Twitter and maybe Facebook. > > Lotsa Pennsylvanians drive their Jeep’s without doors and a few have been ticketed. Lotsa Pennsylvanian cops drive their Jeep’s without doors. I wonder how this affects your insurance if you happen to get into an accident? I know that some insurance policies limit coverage if your vehicle is altered in an illegal/unsafe manner, or if the driver leaves the car unattended with the key in the ignition. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/33 "2021-08-07T22:24:29Z")
in California its still illegal to bring fruit (mostly citrus) from out of state and they still occasionally stop you and ask if you have any and confiscate it Also at one time it was illegal to eat an orange in a mo/hotel room And you cant bring in certain fruit plants from out of state either … look in any gardening catalog and youll see “cant be shipped tp ca” under most of them ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/34 "2021-08-07T22:30:00Z")
Right turns on red are illegal in New York City except where there’s a posted sign. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/35 "2021-08-07T23:41:20Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Also a long, long time ago, it was actually illegal for margarine (in Wisconsin) to be yellow in color. The dairy farmers were concerned about people mistaking it for butter. I’m 40 and never remember it being a thing, but people that are closer in age to my parents will tell you that when they bought margarine, it would come with a yellow dye packet so you could make it yellow on your own. I think that was a nation-wide thing. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2021, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/36 "2021-08-07T23:58:05Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > Also at one time it was illegal to eat an orange in a mo/hotel room Why was that? For the life of me I can’t imagine a single reason for it. To avoid stains on the bed sheets? ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/37 "2021-08-08T00:23:26Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Most of these lists are misleading or untrue. Some of the supposed laws they quote are not existent, and in other cases deliberately misleading. Right. I think threads like this one should include the clause “…and have been enforced in the last 20 years, with the basic details of the arrest(s) publicly available”. Otherwise most of the responses are going to be these funny-but-bullshit memes. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/38 "2021-08-08T00:46:43Z")
What’s the logic behind the gas station attendant laws in New Jersey and Oregon? Is it to protect the industry somehow, or a relic from a time when it was more dangerous for people to operate their own gas pumps, or what? It doesn’t strike me as a moral thing, and obviously it’s not an issue for mere civilians to pump their own gas in the other 48 states. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/39 "2021-08-08T00:49:09Z")
> **[Maine Is Cancelling The Registrations Of Imported JDM Cars](https://jalopnik.com/maine-is-cancelling-the-registrations-of-imported-jdm-c-1847362315)** > > Maine is turning fun, capable vehicles into lawn ornaments. The federal government’s infamous 25 Year Rule restricts the importation of vehicles non-U.S.-market cars and trucks until they’re at least 25 years old. Even when importing something 25 years or older, dealing with the federal government is only part of the process as states set their own rules. Many owners of imported vehicles in Maine are finding out that the state can also change its rules, turning your pride and joy into a paperweight. Mitsubishi Delica owners are hopping on forums and Facebook to report that they are receiving alarming letters from the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The letters tell them that their registration is cancelled pursuant to 29-A MRSA 354, a statute that says that an off-road vehicle cannot be registered in the state. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2021, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195/40 "2021-08-08T00:55:56Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Alcohol laws are hugely variant. In Pennsylvania, for example, you buy alcohol at the “State Store” - a weird term if you think about it. Hard liquor is similarly restricted down here in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Sold in the Alcoholic Beverage Control (aka “ABC”) Stores. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-states-where-something-is-uniquely-illegal/948195.md?page=3)