Hi, I’m from Germany and here people can drink unlimited amounts of beer and wine in public at 16 years old and at 18 you’re allowed to also drink every other strong alcoholic beverage publicly such as Vodka.

I was reading online that in the US it’s not allowed to drink alcoholic beverages in public even if you’re over 21 and even if it’s something mild like beer. If I understood it correctly you’re not even allowed to be drunk in public? I was wondering if this is actually true and why that is the case.

And I wonder how strictly this is enforced. I assume it probably varies strongly between places so maybe you could give an example for where you are from or experiences from other places.

Like even if it’s technically illegal do people still drink a nice cold beer in the summer without getting in trouble? Because it’s hard for me to imagine that anyone would say something when someone simply enjoys a nice cold beer during the hot summer in a park or something.

And could you even be arrested when just enjoying the summer day by drinking beer? Cause that had to be the worst vibe killing situation that would make me paranoid of ever drinking in public.

  • jqubed@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    2 days ago

    And some attitudes are changing. A few years ago my state passed a law allowing local jurisdictions to designate a “social district” where public drinking is permitted. This is usually in a downtown area where there might be multiple restaurants/bars/music venues and maybe stores that are open at times that cater to when people are drinking. The areas are clearly marked with signs and if you pass them the alcohol becomes illegal, and I think the alcohol needs to have been purchased inside the social district; you can’t just show up with your own (cheaper) alcohol from home.

    Where consider that down in parts of Florida where college students used to go party a lot for times like Spring Break, there used to be a lot of public drinking but the mass crowds of intoxicated young people, often vomiting and urinating all over in public, became obnoxious enough that local residents stopped caring about the tourism revenue and passed laws to crack down on this behavior.