#!/usr/bin/perl --

use strict;

my %hash = ();
$hash{a}{drinks}=1;
$hash{b}{drinks}=2;

my $p = \%hash;
my %copy = %{ $p };


use Data::Dumper;
print Dumper( \%hash, \%copy, $p );
__END__
$VAR1 = {
          'a' => {
                   'drinks' => 1
                 },
          'b' => {
                   'drinks' => 2
                 }
        };
$VAR2 = {
          'a' => $VAR1->{'a'},
          'b' => $VAR1->{'b'}
        };
$VAR3 = $VAR1;