Has zippo to do with state laws. Lots of places provide free alcohol, comp the mini-bar in the room, deliver free booze, don't charge in the lounge or just quietly zero out the tab from the honor bar or even a bar in the lobby.

Bottom line is that if booze is not included as a benefit of your status, it is not included. Just the way it is.

Then we get to the thieves. "Honor bar" means that instead of having a staff member standing there to ring up each drink, you are on your honor to sign for the drink as you would at a real club (which of course hotel clubs are not).

The world is full of people who would ask whether they are likely to be caught, not whether they ought to pay. Since they won't get caught because few properties care enough to create a scene (or perhaps they do just charge the thief and deal with it at checkout), there are those who figure it's OK to steal when they are out of town.

For those who ask why booze in a club lounge in Asia might be free, but not in the US, this just gets to the age old stuff about tipping, whether bread is an extra course to be paid for and so on. If you are going to travel, it's what's done locally that matters.