Can cops alcohol test for underage drinking?

27 comments

1. That is a concern when intoxicated people are operating a vehicle. Outside of that, its not typical for the police to have breathalyzers on them to ask random people to take on the street. A person can also refuse to take a breathalyzer too.

   In theory, they could… in reality, its unheard of.

2. Anecdotal, but in WI in 2000, you didn’t have to be in possession to get an underage – just fail a breathalyzer.

3. This will vary state to state I’m sure as alcohol related legalities are a state issue, but my guess most will be determined by
   Are you driving/operating a vehicle at the time?

4. It’s different from state to state. Someone might correct me but I think in Georgia the laws for minors deal mostly with buying or possessing alcohol and don’t really address consumption. So it’s extremely unlikely a cop is going to bother to breathalyze you unless you are driving or acting like a drunken dipshit in public.

5. This would probably depend on the state. If you’re operating a vehicle I’m certain they can in every state, because there is no way that they would say “oh well you’re under 18 so we can’t test you for drunk driving”. If it is like getting busted at a party or something I doubt they would test people. It would just about the possession.

6. This would be better asked on

   r/AskLE
   r/AskLEO

7. They do if you’re operating a vehicle – and you will be tested as any adult driver suspected of drunk driving.

   Outside of that, it’s pretty much unheard to breathalyze teenagers.

8. Depends on the state, but usually, a cop has to provide probably cause to test you (for example, pulled over driving). Occasionally where I went to school, cops would breathalyze kids before they could go enter a school function (like a school dance), and I assume if you were being an ass you could be charged (never saw it though).

   I would say overall though, unless you’re committing another crime (DUI, public intoxication) and you’re not trying to buy alcohol, the odds of being charged with underage drinking is very small.

9. If you are at a party or somewhere alcohol is present and fail a breathalyzer, you will probably get an MIP.

10. If you’re not operating a vehicle, it’s unlikely

11. 2nd question, is it common to be charged for possessing alcohol or is most of the risk in actually buying it?

12. Varies.

    It is possible to be charged with some variation of internal consumption, where the only evidence of underage drinking is that alcohol os found in the suspect’s system. While underage consumption is generally illegal, lots of places will not want to devote investigative resources if no other offenses such as assault or DUI are suspected.

    My university was a dry campus that explicitly banned alcohol regardless of whether students could legally drink. On day 1 at the dorms, a campus police officer told us that the paperwork for underage intoxicated is a pain in the ass. As long as we could get to our dorm rooms without causing a scene, no one would ask any questions.

13. Yes. But they usually don’t do breathalyzer tests except for DUI traffic stops where the driver would be required to show their license. If they had reasonable suspicion that you were under the influence while walking in public they can stop you and request a breathalyzer test but cannot force you to show ID. You can refuse the test and refuse to identify and walk away unless they place you under arrest, and if you are able to walk away without falling down drunk they will almost never try arresting you for drunk and disorderly conduct to bring you to the station where they can force you to take a test and identify you.

14. If you’re driving a car and there is suspicion of intoxication, they can and will give you a breathalyzer test for alcohol. The legal limit for someone driving under the age of 21 is zero in my state. So even if you are sober, *any* amount of alcohol in your system will get you arrested for DWI.

    If you’re not driving, you usually won’t get into legal trouble unless you’re in possession of alcohol in a public area as a minor.

15. [This federal website has a discussion of the various state laws](https://alcoholpolicy.niaaa.nih.gov/underage-drinking/policy-topics).

    One of the categories is “internal possession”, which is just a euphemism for having consumed alcohol. So I imagine that in a state that prohibits internal possession, you could be charged if you fail a test for alcohol.

16. Anecdote: I was standing outside a concert venue (Pink’s Garage in Honolulu) after a Blue Oyster Cult show. I was 19, my friend (23) had gone back inside to retrieve his credit card from the bartender. The cops started questioning me, I refused to show my (fake) ID, so they tackled me, breaking my nose. They hauled me to the hospital, I got patched up, and didn’t get charged with anything. I didn’t make a complaint to their department, as I didn’t get their badge numbers.

17. In my experience, police don’t care if you’re underage drinking if you’re being discreet. It’s only a problem if you’re causing disruption (house party full of underage drinkers gets busted, drunk driving, paying someone to buy you alcohol in front of the liquor store, etc).

18. Yeah but they need some kind of probable cause to test, so unless they see you with it, you’re visibly intoxicated, reek of it, something like that they’ll have a hard time forcing the issue.

    That said plenty might ask anyway and a lot of kids are intimidated and/or ignorant enough to volunteer information or agree to a test when they don’t realize there’s an actual choice.

19. When I was 20, a house party I was at got called on for noise. When the cops got there they breathalyzed everyone and took our information and gave us all tickets in the front yard

    Edit: This was in New York state

20. Depends on the state

21. Yes.

22. Charged? Eh

    Ticketed? Yes

    Source: got 2 MIPs and 1 MIC in college. Paid a small fine and went to a class, it was never brought up again

    Btw: MIC = minor in consumption + MIP minor in possession

    The state I lived in at the time had these laws but I don’t think California (where I live now) does.

23. You can be arrested for public intoxication just for behaving in a way that a cop deems is intoxicated. You don’t have to be tested.

    This won’t happen unless you are being an absolute ass and being disorderly in some way…but in theory they could arrest you just because you appear to be drunk.

24. Cops can’t test you without any reason. Mostly they only do tests for people who are driving. For underaged drinking it’s usually kids getting caught with alcohol.

25. There are generally two different laws. One for a minor in possession of alcohol, and one for a minor consuming alcohol. You can get busted for consumption based on a test.

    Details vary depending on state laws, just like pretty much everything.

26. My parents were divorced, & as a teen I could get away with a lot more living with my mom. I came home one weekend night after being out drinking, & to my unpleasant surprise, my dad was there. He knew I’d been drinking, & he took me to the police station to see if they would give me a breathalyzer test! They told him that was only if THEY picked me up. Fun times! 😅. (Just have to add, my dad is now one of my best friends though!)

27. Underage drinking is enforced by sending people in to test stores to check that they are looking at IDs. The penalties for failing to do so are enormous.

    Not to mention the liability if you let kids drink in your house and something happens.