# Why no alcohol purchases at pharmacy counter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 14, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-alcohol-purchases-at-pharmacy-counter/644070 "2012-12-14T22:18:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-alcohol-purchases-at-pharmacy-counter/644070/21 "2012-12-15T15:00:02Z")
> [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](#): > > So, in order to answer anyone’s question about “Why?”, you’re gonna need to tell us what state you’re in. … which he did. ---
**Author:** ![Coustralee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Coustralee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coustralee)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-alcohol-purchases-at-pharmacy-counter/644070/22 "2012-12-15T15:03:05Z")
maybe something to do with precriptions not mixing with alcohol and not wanting to make it seem that they’re ok with that… i could see someone trying to sue over it. In Australia you need to have a separate liquor store or drive through to sell alcohol, its a lot more regulated ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-alcohol-purchases-at-pharmacy-counter/644070/23 "2012-12-15T15:38:33Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > … which he did. I see it _now_, of course. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-alcohol-purchases-at-pharmacy-counter/644070/24 "2012-12-15T19:31:28Z")
> [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](#): > > This, like every other “Why?” question involving the law in the US, will depend entirely on your state… Pennsylvania’s liquor laws are really strange. Until a few years ago you could only buy beer at a wholesale beer distributor (by the case or keg) or to go from a bar or restuarant. In the later case there’s a legal maximum of 2 sixpacks per transaction. What’s changed is that a few supermarkets managed to get their deli-cafes classified as restuarants & sell beer. You can only buy beer at the cafe register (& not groceries), are still subject to the 2 sixpack limit, and can also drink the beer onsite. Wine & liquor can only be purchased in government run liquor stores (some of which are attached to private supermarkets, but I’ve never been in one). Well you can buy local wine direct from a winery, some of which have off-site shops. For awhile the Liquor Control Board had _vending machines_ that sold wine in supermarkets. You had to scan your driver’s licence, take a breathalyzer test, and have an LCB employee manualy approve the sale over a videophone. Oh, and you could only pay be credit card, and there was a fee for using the machine. The wine selection was also really limited. It was a huge failure, everone hated them, including the supermarkets the LCB was renting space from. ---
**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:** [December 15, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-alcohol-purchases-at-pharmacy-counter/644070/25 "2012-12-15T19:44:08Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Pennsylvania’s liquor laws are really strange. Oh my, yes! A bar I frequent has been hassled repeatedly for the craziest things. Promotions that offer a T-Shirt to people drinking 100 different drafts had to be modified because it “encouraged consumption”.:rolleyes: And the two six pack regulation? Every place I’ve ever purchased beer allows you to take the two sixes to your car and come back in to buy more. It is two sixes per transaction. Pennsylvania has a lot to offer, but their Liquor Control Board needs to be reformulated.. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-alcohol-purchases-at-pharmacy-counter/644070/26 "2012-12-15T19:46:47Z")
Another consideration is that it could just be an inventory control practice. Perhaps the front registers are monitored more closely by management, and with restricting alcohol purchases to those registers you don’t have to determine if someone paid for their bottle at the pharmacy or whether they are shoplifting. ---
**Author:** ![Arcyarc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@Arcyarc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcyarc)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-alcohol-purchases-at-pharmacy-counter/644070/27 "2012-12-16T13:05:12Z")
Here in Scotland, I used to work in a shop that did small-scale amateur-ish dry cleaning on the premesis. I was often sent out to the pharmacy along the street to purchase several litres of methanol/methylated spirits for that purpose. The pharmacy was the only place to buy such items, and to begin with, the pharmacy staff would phone the shop manager to confirm I was indeed purchasing for them - and wasn’t intent on drinking the stuff(!). It wasn’t on display in the pharmacy - it was kept in their backshop area, and the registered pharmacist on duty had to give his approval in person for each purchase I made. I don’t think they sold any ethanol though, just methanol. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-alcohol-purchases-at-pharmacy-counter/644070/28 "2012-12-18T00:02:02Z")
In California, at my local Rite Aid, I can buy beer and get my prescription at the pharmacy counter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-alcohol-purchases-at-pharmacy-counter/644070.md?page=1)