If you've never been to Utah and you're planning a road trip there this summer or in the future (which you should because it's beautiful) make sure you come prepared with booze. For those of you who don't know Utah has special laws on alcohol. They have what's known as the "3.2" law. That means that all beer can't go over 3.2% alcohol by WEIGHT. All the beer is specially made to fit the standard. So if you're going to Utah make sure you pick up some beer before you get close to the state line.

I was coming from the East and I made the mistake of thinking I can pick up some beer in the last town in Colorado. I stopped at Cortez, which is still a solid 40 miles (65 km) away from Utah, and they were already selling 3.2 beer. The highest it is legally allowed to go is 4.0% alcohol by VOLUME (it's still 3.2% but just a larger quantity of beer per serving).

If you're coming from the West or the South in Nevada or Arizona it is the same deal. I stopped in Mesquite which is about 40 miles (65 km) South West from the Utah border and they had 3.2 laws there as well.

The same goes for dispensaries. Colorado and Nevada both sell marijuana for recreational use and they are the East and West neighboring states. You need to stop well before you get to the state line because you won't find any dispensaries around. It's even worse than the 3.2 law because you can find high alcoholic beer in Grand Junction, Colorado which is a little less than an hour from Utah but you wont find any dispensaries in the whole town. The funny thing is that you think there would be a bunch of cops around the state line in Utah waiting to bust people with marijuana and then there isn't. You don't even see any cops. I spent several days driving through the Southern part of Utah and I only saw a cop one time and I must've went over 800 miles (1300 km) in the state.

Most of these laws are in place because of the influence from the Mormon population. According to a local newspaper (The Salt Lake Tribune, Dec-2014), over 62% of the Utah population is Mormon. Mormonism is a unique religion for its perspective on having a wife by allowing its followers to have multiple wives, and it also heavily advises against any consumption of alcohol. Unlike the Catholic Church where you drink wine at every mass and go home to you're one wife who you will live with forever and ever and be the only one you bang till you die or else you go to Hell. I mean I guess both religions have their pros and cons. With that said, Utah has an easier time making these laws possible because most of Utah sits on whats known as the Colorado Plateau, thus causing most of Utah to sit 1 mile (1.6 km) above sea level.

Map showing Mesquite from Utah boarder.

The red circle is Cortez in Colorado.

http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=1842825&itype=CMSID
Link - Mormon population percentage