# Laws applicable in only a few states **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 24, 2016, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214 "2016-06-24T09:12:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214/21 "2016-06-24T16:11:06Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > It wasn’t a rumor in PA. People went to great effort to travel to NJ and MD to buy alcohol for less. I don’t think the police in the other states cared, but the PA state police were on the lookout for liquor smugglers. You’ll see discount liquor stores right over the bridge in Trenton and thriving liquors stores in little one horse towns in MD. It’s probably not as common as it once was for people to go out of state to stock up on liquor but in the 70s and earlier when the cocktail hour was still prevalent there was a lot of incentive. Sorry, I specifically meant the “Police in cheap booze state arrested police from expensive booze state for trespassing/concealed weapons/what have you violations” part that I think is an urban legend. Absolutely PA would try to catch people bringing booze back from NJ. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2016, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214/22 "2016-06-24T16:16:26Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > It wasn’t a rumor in PA. People went to great effort to travel to NJ and MD to buy alcohol for less. I don’t think the police in the other states cared, but the PA state police were on the lookout for liquor smugglers. You’ll see discount liquor stores right over the bridge in Trenton and thriving liquors stores in little one horse towns in MD. It’s probably not as common as it once was for people to go out of state to stock up on liquor but in the 70s and earlier when the cocktail hour was still prevalent there was a lot of incentive. I’ve made runs into Ohio to buy fireworks (illegal in PA). I always am cautious on my return trip, stopping at a restaurant and having a meal, watching for a car tailing me, etc. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214/23 "2016-06-24T16:18:15Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Sorry, I specifically meant the “Police in cheap booze state arrested police from expensive booze state for trespassing/concealed weapons/what have you violations” part that I think is an urban legend. Absolutely PA would try to catch people bringing booze back from NJ. Ok, that part I don’t believe either. It makes no sense. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214/24 "2016-06-24T16:21:37Z")
Back in the pre-9/11 days when you could cross the border with relative ease, you saw a stream of cars crossing the Ontario/New York border in both directions on weekend nights. Canadians would be coming into New York to drink because our bars had lower prices and Americans would be going into Ontario to drink because their bars had lower drinking ages. ---
**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:** [June 24, 2016, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214/25 "2016-06-24T16:28:50Z")
And years ago I remember driving home from Florida to PA and stopping at a big tobacco warehouse, buying dozens of cases of cigarettes for friends (I don’t use tobacco). ETA: using big shopping carts for cigarettes really cracked me up. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214/26 "2016-06-24T16:32:46Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > And years ago I remember driving home from Florida to PA and stopping at a big tobacco warehouse, buying dozens of cases of cigarettes for friends (I don’t use tobacco). > > ETA: using big shopping carts for cigarettes really cracked me up. Crossing from Mass to NH for cigarettes, alcohol, fireworks, and lobster is very common now. The lobster is just a better price for being closer to the source, the rest are taxes and the fireworks ban. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214/27 "2016-06-24T17:57:19Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Back in the pre-9/11 days when you could cross the border with relative ease, you saw a stream of cars crossing the Ontario/New York border in both directions on weekend nights. Canadians would be coming into New York to drink because our bars had lower prices and Americans would be going into Ontario to drink because their bars had lower drinking ages. I remember on night in college many years ago - when the Toronto bars closed at 1Am we piled into a car, drove down to Buffalo, had an episode where we ran out gas near Niagara Falls, and still had over an hour in the bar in Buffalo until 4AM. of course, the drinking age back then probably wasn’t 21. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214/28 "2016-06-24T18:36:39Z")
States that do not allow employers to apply tip-credit to wages: NV, CA, OR, WA – where tip credit is allowed in the rest of the country, minimum wage for employees that can expect tips as part of their income is as low as $2.33/hr, but employers are still required to insure that minimum wage is paid, for times when the tip rate is very low. Minnesota and Montana also reject tip credit, except their laws have odd exceptions that make it easy for larger companies to have it. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214/29 "2016-06-24T18:46:38Z")
Alaska, Arizona, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Vermont and West Virginia allow adults to carry a loaded, concealed handgun without the need for a state license. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214/30 "2016-06-24T18:55:59Z")
Citrus quarantine laws are pretty specific- CA, AZ, TX and FL, as far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214/31 "2016-06-24T18:59:13Z")
For your enjoyment: [map and table](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin_marriage_law_in_the_United_States_by_state) about cousin-marriage laws in the US. Criminal offense in TX, OK, NV, SD, ND. Legal with no restrictions in almost half the states. (A lot more than I would expect.) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214/32 "2016-06-24T19:02:27Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Until recently, Kansas prohibited branch banks. A bank had to do business from a single location. Expanded once to allow off–premises drive-in windows in urban locations. Cite? Either I’m misunderstanding what you mean by a branch bank, or your definition of “recently” differs vastly from mine, but I’ve lived in Kansas over 35 years and banks have had branches as long as I’ve been living here. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214/33 "2016-06-24T19:17:54Z")
> [@Ispolkom](#): > > I think that **dtilque** is overstating the level of legal uniformity among the states. I’m sure I am. I was thinking of laws in a general way and trying to avoid specific tweaks that make most laws unique. I thought I said that (in fact, I did say that), but you guys ignored that. So I’m going to ignore the hijack about it. Thanks to everyone who answered in the spirit of my request. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214/34 "2016-06-24T20:09:03Z")
[Etizolam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etizolam) is a controlled substance in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Virginia, and Georgia. It is legal to possess in all other states. This is news to me; I didn’t know that six states have now criminalized possession. I thought it was only three until I looked it up just now. Florida, Virginia, and Georgia must have done this in the very recent past. Just two years ago, it was legal in all 50 states. It was Arkansas that kicked off the ball, with Alabama and Mississippi following suit not long afterwards. [/On soapbox]This is really a shame, as etizolam is a drug which has significant potential for people who suffer from insomnia or anxiety disorders. When used responsibly, it has substantial advantages over treatment with traditional benzodiazepines such as alprazolam (Xanax) or diazepam (Valium). In terms of hypnotic, anxiolytic, and skeletal muscle-relaxant properties, it is just as effective as the benzodiazepines, but with far less potential for addiction or tolerance. It actually produces a _reverse-tolerance_ effect; the longer it is used, the better it works, as it induces upregulation of one of the brain’s major benzodiazepine receptors.[/Off soapbox]. ---
**Author:** ![andrewm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@andrewm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewm)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214/35 "2016-06-24T20:56:32Z")
Bottle/can deposit: Some states have nothing, states that do have one vary what it applies to (MA is carbonated/alcohol only, ME includes water and juice) and how much the payout is. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214/36 "2016-06-24T21:09:24Z")
Nevada is unique in allowing legal prostitution in some areas of the state. Indoor prostitution was legal in Rhode Island for a while due to inept legislators but they later closed the loophole. Incest laws are turning into a state by state patchwork. Many states have removed incest as a crime in itself and now only place restrictions on marriage. The relationships defined as incest vary also. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214/37 "2016-06-24T21:19:46Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Minimum age for marriage without parental consent: 18 in all states, except NE (19) and MS (21). In Indiana, a pregnant 16 or 17 year old does not need parental consent to marry, and actually, I think 17-year-olds who aren’t pregnant don’t need parental consent; that was true when I was in high school, and there was some talk of changing it, because teens were coming from Illinois and Ohio to marry-- I think they settled for a residency requirement. I think the pregnancy thing might be true in New York as well, because I think pregnancy emancipates a minor there. All alcohol sales are banned in Indiana, except for an exception for table service in some restaurants. There’s also a weird law that a restaurant within 100 yards of a church can’t get a liquor license. There’s no possibility of getting a waiver from the church, so the church itself may serve alcohol at receptions, but the restaurant still can’t. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214/38 "2016-06-24T21:36:59Z")
About 5 or 10 years ago I read a fascinating book about state laws pertaining to the transportation, handling, and disposal of human remains. There’s a surprising variability in rules such as depth of burial (few if any states require the traditional six feet), whether coffins or caskets are required, whether and under what circumstances embalming is required, and whether bodies must be buried in cemeteries (as opposed to somebody’s back yard). One thing that stuck in my mind was that when the book was published there were exactly two states in which cremated human remains couldn’t legally be scattered on land: California and Indiana. In the other 48 states, cremation counts as the final disposition of the body and the “cremains” are no longer considered to be a human body under the law. You can do pretty much anything you want with them that you could do with any other ash-like substance. > [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > There are also 30 states that require annual emissions tests, but that seems too far outside the parameters to make them worth mentioning. I was going to mention that there are eight states that require emissions testing no matter where in the state the vehicle is located, even in rural counties and counties with good air quality (CT, NH, VT, RI, MA, NY, NJ, DE). The other 22 or so that require testing only require it in some parts of their states, typically the urban and suburban counties with the worst air quality. Because it can be used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, purchase of pseudoephedrine is regulated. Under federal law, you have to show identification and there are limits to how much you can buy, but no prescription is required. Two states that I know of require a doctor’s prescription to buy it: Oregon and Mississippi. There are a lot of states where adultery is still a crime, though it’s rarely if ever prosecuted. There are a handful of states (six IIRC) in which there are still laws on the books against fornication (consensual vaginal sex between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman). Idaho is one of them. It’s doubtful whether these laws could be enforced today. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214/39 "2016-06-24T21:41:23Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > All alcohol sales are banned in Indiana, except for an exception for table service in some restaurants. There’s also a weird law that a restaurant within 100 yards of a church can’t get a liquor license. There’s no possibility of getting a waiver from the church, so the church itself may serve alcohol at receptions, but the restaurant still can’t. Alcohol sales are only banned in Indiana on Sundays, though, correct? At least from what I can determine by searching Google. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214/40 "2016-06-24T21:46:25Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > There are also 30 states that require annual emissions tests, but that seems too far outside the parameters to make them worth mentioning. Arizona only requires emission testing once every two years, and only in the Pima and Maricopa County metro areas. Coincidentally, you can also choose to renew your auto registration for two years, so you can do those both in the same year and skip the next year. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laws-applicable-in-only-a-few-states/758214.md?page=3)