GRAND RAPIDS -- Barbershop owner Thomas Martin is taking his case to Lansing to restore his cut-and-a-beer service.Martin, who has 11 shops in the Grand Rapids area, used to offer customers one complimentary brew until authorities in Kent and Ottawa counties told him to stop.

"It's just a nice benefit," Martin told The Grand Rapids Press for a story Thursday. "It's like the old-fashioned service."

State Rep. Kevin Green says he doesn't see why Martin's clients can't have a beer since no one is looking to get drunk. The Wyoming Republican has asked the Michigan attorney general's office to research whether giving customers a beer violates state law.

Matt Frendewey, a spokesman for Attorney General Mike Cox, says the beer benefit is under review but there is no time frame for a decision.

In the meantime, no one will be sipping suds at Martin's barbershops.

State law prohibits businesses where people consume alcohol when paying for other services. Grand Rapids has a similar ordinance.

Kent County sheriff's Lt. Kevin Kelley says vice officers who visited Martin's shops in November determined he violated the law and said he would need a liquor license because he essentially was selling alcohol by providing it with a service.

Martin says depriving his customers from the mountain of beer he has on hand is another sign of "the government telling you what you can do and can't do."