# Is this legal? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 28, 2013, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160 "2013-03-28T06:29:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160/121 "2013-04-02T18:02:07Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Considering that our OP admitted to doing the latter and then followed it up with the former, it’s hardly a mental leap to note that one might be slamming beer in one’s driveway either as a way to throw off impending DUI testing or, in some cases, right before driving off. Hence in many jurisdictions, drinking in one’s motor vehicle is indeed prohibited - not to mention simply sitting in it without drinking but while impaired - and one is not covered by the childhood defense of being “safe at home base.” Another likely possibility is that somebody decides to go sit in their car and drink - maybe they had a fight with their spouse and want to get outside of the house - with no intention of driving anywhere. But drinking impairs your judgement. I can see a person who intended to stay in his driveway when he started drinking deciding to take a drive once he’s drunk. Maybe he finishes his six-pack and wants to go buy some more beer. Maybe he decides to leave his wife and go visit his old girlfriend. Maybe he decides to drive to Paris and join the French Foreign Legion. The point is that a person drinking in a car is a lot more likely to go drunk driving than a person drinking in his living room. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160/122 "2013-04-02T18:10:25Z")
> [@snailboy](#): > > Driving while drunk is being reckless with the lives of others on the road. Sitting in a parked car drinking hurts no one.. I think we read different OPs. A lot more than that was going on. Again, cops are not checking people’s driveways to see if someone is drinking beer in their car. Who the hell does that anyway? ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160/123 "2013-04-02T18:29:45Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > You already said it wasn’t important whether it was constitutional. It was important that it was a fundamental freedom. If that’s the case, it hardly matters which sovereign is impinging on it. Which are we talking about here? Doesn’t matter, I feel that whether it’s sitting in your car drinking or doing heroin in your house, it’s unconstitutional for the federal government to outlaw either and it’s a violation of your fundamental rights for any level of government to outlaw either. There’s nothing conflicting about that, is there? > [@Loach](#): > > I think we read different OPs. A lot more than that was going on. Again, cops are not checking people’s driveways to see if someone is drinking beer in their car. > > Who the hell does that anyway? I’m not saying everything in the original poster’s story is okay nor that I believe everything in it is exactly as it happened (if any of it happened). I’m just focusing on one specific detail since it was brought up. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160/124 "2013-04-02T18:46:48Z")
> [@snailboy](#): > > I’m not saying everything in the original poster’s story is okay nor that I believe everything in it is exactly as it happened (if any of it happened). I’m just focusing on one specific detail since it was brought up. Oh OK. I can not answer about the laws in other states. But in mine the open container statute is not enforceable on private property. DUI is. So unless you can be shown to be in operation of the vehicle you could have a wet bar in your car on your property. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160/125 "2013-04-02T19:35:48Z")
> [@snailboy](#): > > Driving while drunk is being reckless with the lives of others on the road. Sitting in a parked car drinking hurts no one. He wasn’t sitting in his driveway drinking when he was first observed. That’s just where the cops found him pounding beers trying to mask how much he had already consumed. ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160/126 "2013-04-02T21:02:02Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > He wasn’t sitting in his driveway drinking when he was first observed. That’s just where the cops found him pounding beers trying to mask how much he had already consumed. Again, I was focusing specifically on sitting in a parked car drinking since it was brought up, not the story as a whole. If he was driving while impaired (which seems likely) and the cops can prove it, he should get a DWI/DUI. It’s not out of the question that someone might sit in a parked vehicle on private property and drink without ever driving in public though. I’ve been around people doing it. It was usually on four-wheelers but they’re still motor vehicles. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160/127 "2013-04-02T21:57:29Z")
> [@snailboy](#): > > Again, I was focusing specifically on sitting in a parked car drinking since it was brought up, not the story as a whole. If he was driving while impaired (which seems likely) and the cops can prove it, he should get a DWI/DUI. It’s not out of the question that someone might sit in a parked vehicle on private property and drink without ever driving in public though. I’ve been around people doing it. It was usually on four-wheelers but they’re still motor vehicles. And I mentioned that is not illegal in my state. You would have to check state by state on that. But DUI on private property would still be illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160/128 "2013-04-03T03:25:35Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > And is it actually illegal to ingest heroin in your own home? I thought it was normally illegal to transport, sell, or possess heroin–is it illegal to use it? If the police search my house and find no heroin, but have proof that I’ve “used it”, is that a crime in and of itself without the transport/sell/possession aspect? (I’m just curious on that, I genuinely don’t know the answer.) I can tell you it is in Thailand. The police routinely make sweeps of nightclubs, ordering everyone to pee in a cup on site. Any urine coming up positive for drugs – speed is the drug of the day here now, but others are tested for too – the pee-er is taken off to jail post-haste. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2013, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160/129 "2013-04-03T05:34:17Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I can tell you it is in Thailand. The police routinely make sweeps of nightclubs, ordering everyone to pee in a cup on site. Any urine coming up positive for drugs – speed is the drug of the day here now, but others are tested for too – the pee-er is taken off to jail post-haste. How do they get the results so fast? Taste test? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160/130 "2013-04-04T03:40:39Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > How do they get the results so fast? Taste test? I don’t know the exact logistics, because I’m too old for clubbing and have never been tested like that. These are all young people’s clubs they hit. But I know they set up a lab right on the spot and test everyone. The place is sealed and no one leaves without being tested first. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160/131 "2013-04-04T07:02:46Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > … > > And is it actually illegal to ingest heroin in your own home? I thought it was normally **illegal to transport, sell, or possess heroin** –is it illegal to use it? If the police search my house and find no heroin, but have proof that I’ve “used it”, is that a crime in and of itself without the transport/sell/possession aspect? (I’m just curious on that, I genuinely don’t know the answer.) (bolding mine) You have to _ **possess** _ it to _ **use** _ it! :rolleyes: > [@Loach](#): > > How do they get the results so fast? Taste test? There are test ‘cups’ that have an indicator built right into the cup that can test for multiple substances, (marijuana, opiates, cocaine, methamphetamine and alcohol) all at once. I know for a fact, that the Parole Division here in the state of Texas uses them. It only takes about 30 seconds for the results to register, from a very small urine sample. :eek: > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I don’t know the exact logistics, because I’m too old for clubbing and have never been tested like that. These are all young people’s clubs they hit. But I know they set up a lab right on the spot and test everyone. The place is sealed and no one leaves without being tested first. Whoa! FWIW, that meets _ **my** _ definition of a ‘police state’. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160/132 "2013-04-04T08:37:12Z")
> [@JBDivmstr](#): > > (bolding mine) > You have to _ **possess** _ it to _ **use** _ it! :rolleyes: No you don’t. You go to someone else’s house. They put a little heroin on their table. You snort it. They are the one in possession of it up until it enters your nose. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160/133 "2013-04-04T08:42:18Z")
> [@snailboy](#): > > No you don’t. You go to someone else’s house. They put a little heroin on their table. You snort it. They are the one in possession of it up until it enters your nose. I guess I’ll have to give you _ **that** _ one. :rolleyes: But I’ll bet you this, if you’re there when the cops bust in the door, it won’t matter _ **who** _ brought it there, if you’ve already snorted some. Once you’ve snorted it, you’re in possession of it. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160/134 "2013-04-04T08:58:08Z")
I’m having a hard time imagining the cops forcing people at a party to take drug tests and prosecuting them based on the results. This isn’t Thailand… ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160/135 "2013-04-04T09:19:08Z")
[Here is a good article](http://www.willisandjohnson.com/legal-news/constructive-possession), based on North Carolina law, explaining the concept of “possession”: > [@](#): > > A person has constructive possession of something if he does not have actual possession but “he has the intent and capability to maintain control and dominion over that thing.” State v. Beaver, 317 N.C. 643, 648 (1986). The item is not on the person, but he knows about it and intends to use it or has the ability to use it. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160/136 "2013-04-04T14:28:32Z")
> [@JBDivmstr](#): > > Whoa! > FWIW, that meets _ **my** _ definition of a ‘police state’. ☹ The police do whatever the fuck they want to do here. In front of the main police HQ here in Bangkok is a statue of a cop carrying an injured child to safety. The common joke among Thais is that he’s the only helpful policeman in the country. ---
**Author:** ![ogional](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@ogional](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ogional)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160/137 "2013-04-05T09:04:02Z")
I work nights from 10-7am. Fired till court is done then they will rehire me. I had to wait for the field sobriety test. I’m going after the cops credibility and false statements. I watched the field sobriety test video it only shows half of them and you can’t hear what is being said even though they people are talking. Officer said In the report i was swaying back and forth in the video and I did the walk around line. video doesn’t even show that. I was standing straight as a board of wood in the video. Cop said I was passed out while in transport. Called my mom asked her if she still had the txts I sent her when I was being transported to the holding cell. She said she had them I told my lawyer. he said he wanted those texts so he could take pictures to prove I wasn’t passed out in the patrol car. He said he will put in a motion to suppress I asked him what you mean by motion to suppress. He said motion to suppress all the way back to the stop. so hopefully charges get dropped I don’t know yet. My uncle said it still may have to go to trial. ---
**Author:** ![ogional](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@ogional](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ogional)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160/138 "2013-04-05T09:23:55Z")
Everyone I have talked to in walmart that know about this said the charges should be dropped. Because they all ready knew what happened because the associate went around bragging about it. If I hire15 lawyers they will all plead me not guilty even if i go through 5 public defenders would plead me not guilty. So I do believe the jury or state attorney will agree with any lawyer to drop the charges. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160/139 "2013-04-05T09:43:56Z")
Good luck with that. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160/140 "2013-04-05T09:44:29Z")
Did you write that while hand cuffed in the back of a police car too? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-legal/654160.md?page=8)