Information taken from

U.S. FEDERAL LAW

Caution : All legal information should be verified through other sources. [see below]

U.S. FEDERAL LEGAL SUMMARY
Alcohol
CONTROLLED	Yes
STATUS	Over-The-Counter Age Restricted
SCHEDULE	Un-Scheduled

Alcohol sales are regulated in the United States. Though alcohol is available over the counter :

Only those over the age of 21 are legally allowed to purchase alcohol.
It is illegal to purchase alcohol for a minor.
It is legal to brew beer and ferment wine for personal consumption without a license.
In order to sell beer or wine, a license is required.
It is federally illegal to distill hard alcohol (even for personal consumption) without a license.
It is illegal in most states to drive (or operate vehicles) with a blood alcohol content of over a certain level (.08 in some states, .1 in others)

Spirits
(from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms)

"You cannot produce spirits for beverage purposes without paying taxes and without prior approval of paperwork to operate a distilled spirits plant. [See 26 U.S.C. 5601 & 5602 for some of the criminal penalties.] There are numerous requirements that must be met that make it impractical to produce spirits for personal or beverage use. Some of these requirements are paying special tax, filing an extensive application, filing a bond, providing adequate equipment to measure spirits, providing suitable tanks and pipelines, providing a separate building (other than a dwelling) and maintaining detailed records, and filing reports. All of these requirements are listed in 27 CFR Part 19.

Spirits may be produced for nonbeverage purposes for fuel use only without payment of tax, but you also must file an application, receive ATF's approval, and follow requirements, such as construction, use, records and reports."

INTERNATIONAL LAW

Canada

The laws respecting alcohol are determined by the province or territory not by the federal government. Alcohol is age restricted everywhere in Canada to those 19 and older except in the province of Quebec, where the minimum age to posess/consume alcohol is 18. The Northwest Territories is also exceptional. Alcohol use is restricted by the municipality not by the NWT government. Communities in the NWT have the right to ban alcohol completely if the local government desires. (thanks S.)

Mexico

We have found conflicting information about minimum drinking age. It is generally agreed that the enforcement is spotty, but different resources suggest 18 is the minimum while others say 15 or 16 as a nation-wide minimum age.

If you have information about the legal status of this substance in any other country, please let us know.

CAUTION & DISCLAIMER

Erowid legal information is a summary of data gathered from site visitors, government documents, websites, and other resources. We are not lawyers and can not guarantee the accuracy of the information provided here. We do our best to keep this information correct and up-to-date, but laws are complex and constantly changing. Laws may also vary from one jurisdiction to another (county, state, country, etc)...this list is not comprehensive.