# Can you get in trouble for drinking nonalcoholic beer/wine in a public place? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 28, 2013, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-in-trouble-for-drinking-nonalcoholic-beer-wine-in-a-public-place/677379 "2013-12-28T23:59:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2013, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-in-trouble-for-drinking-nonalcoholic-beer-wine-in-a-public-place/677379/1 "2013-12-28T23:59:48Z")
In many areas, you’re not allowed to drink alcoholic beverages in public (like, say, walking down the street and drinking a beer.) What if you were in a public place, drinking wine or beer that was nonalcoholic? Could you get in trouble for that? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-in-trouble-for-drinking-nonalcoholic-beer-wine-in-a-public-place/677379/2 "2013-12-29T01:00:36Z")
I would think not, but that’s just a guess. After all, people can be arrested for possessing “look alike” drugs. I’ll leave this one for the cops/lawyers on the board. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-in-trouble-for-drinking-nonalcoholic-beer-wine-in-a-public-place/677379/3 "2013-12-29T01:25:22Z")
[College Student Arrested & Thrown in Jail After Buying…Bottled Water](http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/06/29/college-student-arrested-thrown-in-jail-after-buying-bottled-water/), so anything can happen. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-in-trouble-for-drinking-nonalcoholic-beer-wine-in-a-public-place/677379/4 "2013-12-29T02:45:08Z")
YMMV depending on state, but in Wisconsin the answer is no. By statute here something is not considered alcoholic unless it contains .5% or more alcohol by volume. “Near beer” tends to have .4% or less and can legally be labled non-alcoholic. Anybody of any age may purchase, posess, or consume them. By law they are considered no different than soda or water. One can legally drink it walking down the street or while driving a car. Once again, YMMV depending on what state you’re in. [Here](http://statutes.laws.com/wisconsin/125/125.02) are some [cites](http://www.revenue.wi.gov/pubs/pb302.pdf). ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-in-trouble-for-drinking-nonalcoholic-beer-wine-in-a-public-place/677379/5 "2013-12-29T03:33:09Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > [College Student Arrested & Thrown in Jail After Buying…Bottled Water](http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/06/29/college-student-arrested-thrown-in-jail-after-buying-bottled-water/), so anything can happen. Well, they didn’t arrest her for buying water, they arrested her for trying to run from them. Now, how trained LEOs can confuse a case of bottled water for beer is beyond me, but [as we have seen](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/23/los-angeles-dorner-settlement/2107289/), a half-dozen or so cops are capable of all kinds of horrific mistakes. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-in-trouble-for-drinking-nonalcoholic-beer-wine-in-a-public-place/677379/6 "2013-12-29T03:38:55Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > \*\*Well, they didn’t arrest her for buying water, they arrested her for trying to run from them. > \*\* > Now, how trained LEOs can confuse a case of bottled water for beer is beyond me, but [as we have seen](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/23/los-angeles-dorner-settlement/2107289/), a half-dozen or so cops are capable of all kinds of horrific mistakes. To be fair, they were all in plainclothes and she couldn’t identify the badge(s) they were(most likely) wildly waving, one pulled a gun. It was also night so the “suspect” wouldn’t get a good look. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-in-trouble-for-drinking-nonalcoholic-beer-wine-in-a-public-place/677379/7 "2013-12-29T15:33:35Z")
If the statute applicable in your place prohibits drinking alcoholic beverages in public, and what you’re drinking is nonalcoholic, then you haven’t broken the law. It’s as easy as that. Of course, it’s possible that police officers stop or even arrest you mistakenly because they _think_ what you drink is alcoholic. It would be lawful for police officers to do so as long as they have probable cause to suspect that you’re violating the law; but as soon as the nonalcoholic nature of your beverage is revealed, you’re off the hook. It would simply be a case of an arrest on the basis of probable cause even though the suspicion later turned out to be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-in-trouble-for-drinking-nonalcoholic-beer-wine-in-a-public-place/677379/8 "2013-12-29T15:43:48Z")
IIRC it is illegal for persons underage (under 21) from buying NA beer in NY this from a supermarket clerk, so not the best source), but I have also seen some soda’s that use natural fermentation for carbonation and contain about the same amount of alcohol as NA beer that don’t have this requirement.