Alcohol laws of Kansas

The alcohol laws of Kansas are among the strictest in the United States, in sharp contrast to its neighboring state of Missouri (see Alcohol laws of Missouri), and similar to (though somewhat less rigid than) its other neighboring state of Oklahoma (see Alcohol laws of Oklahoma). Legislation is enforced by the Kansas Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

Kansas had statewide prohibition from 1881 to 1948, longer than any other state, and continued to prohibit general on-premises liquor sales until 1987. Kansas's strict and highly regulated approach to alcohol stems from lingering vestiges of its long era of prohibition. As of December 2012, Kansas had 13 dry counties, where on-premises liquor sales are prohibited, but the sale of 3.2% beer is permitted. As of April 2013, Kansas still has not ratified the 21st Amendment, which ended nationwide prohibition in 1933.

Violence from cowboy culture was a prelude to prohibition in Kansas.

In 1880, Kansas voters approved an amendment to the Kansas Constitution prohibiting all manufacture and sale of "intoxicating liquors" throughout the state effective January 1, 1881, making Kansas the first state in the United States to enact a statewide constitutional prohibition on alcohol, and heralding Kansas's long era of statewide prohibition. Kansas was a national center of activity of the temperance movement. Carrie A. Nation, born in Kentucky and spending much of her life in Missouri, moved to Kansas with her second husband in 1889, where she became famous for advocating enforcement of the Kansas Constitution's prohibition of alcohol.

Nationwide prohibition went into effect with ratification of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States in 1919, lasting until repeal by the 21st Amendment in 1933. During this period, alcohol was prohibited in Kansas by both state and federal law. In 1934, shortly after the end of nationwide prohibition, a proposal was put to referendum that Kansas end its statewide prohibition, and regulate and tax liquor instead. Voters rejected it by a sizable margin.

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