"Come in a car, leave in a coma." So read a Nebraska bar's ad for its happy hour, that afterwork party time when saloons sell spirits at a discount. But with concern growing that happy hours may lead to driving deaths, an increasing number of states are barring barroom discounts.
Ten states already have happy-hour laws on the books, and one law, a Massachusetts regulation that bans discount incentives at any hour, has become a model for other states. Altogether, about half the states are considering taking some kind of action or toughening up existing laws.
One result is that free...