# Not consume alcohol as part of probation for non alcohol offenses? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 29, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-consume-alcohol-as-part-of-probation-for-non-alcohol-offenses/611093 "2012-01-29T17:19:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-consume-alcohol-as-part-of-probation-for-non-alcohol-offenses/611093/21 "2012-01-30T19:52:05Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > No, it’s the judge who sets the conditions. It can be either (at least in L.A. County), though the PO will do it more as a result of some list that he or she uses from the initial interview. Those conditions can also be contested before the judge, if they weren’t part of the initial plea deal. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-consume-alcohol-as-part-of-probation-for-non-alcohol-offenses/611093/22 "2012-01-30T20:52:36Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > This is incorrect. In my 3 decades of working in the system almost all jail/prison time sentences are followed with some form of extended supervision afterwards. If the convicted has served the entire term of his sentence, how much additional time could they be returned to jail for, if they violate supervision? If the judge sentences me to 10 years, and I serve 10 years, who determines the extra-judicial punishment for violating supervision? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-consume-alcohol-as-part-of-probation-for-non-alcohol-offenses/611093/23 "2012-01-30T21:13:11Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > It’s usually just as hard to test if you drank on Tuesday if it’s now Wednesday. Is that correct? I thought a urine test could detect previous alcohol consumption for a few days. Anyway, it’s a catch-22. If giving up alcohol as a term of probation is a huge imposition, then the person in question probably has a substance abuse problem. If it’s just a minor hassle, along the lines of “and you can’t eat pizza while you’re on probation,” then I’d think one would just sigh, mumble “whatever,” and do it. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-consume-alcohol-as-part-of-probation-for-non-alcohol-offenses/611093/24 "2012-01-30T21:57:23Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > It has already been mentioned that probation is in lieu of jailtime. It makes sense to me that some restrictions should be imposed on the individuals that limit some of their freedoms. People in jail cannot consume alcohol either. So a person who receives probation instead of jailtime isn’t “losing” his ability to drink, he is “gaining” a bunch of other freedoms that incarceration would have taken from him anyway. > I look at it as part of the punishment, not some lame attempt at preventing repeat offenses. So the restrictions are kind of like those in the old movie, “Support Your Local Sheriff”, where the sheriff played by Jame Garner had a jail cell that hadn’t had the bars installed yet, but they were going to use the cell just as if it had bars anyway. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-consume-alcohol-as-part-of-probation-for-non-alcohol-offenses/611093/25 "2012-01-30T22:37:59Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > If the convicted has served the entire term of his sentence, how much additional time could they be returned to jail for, if they violate supervision? If the judge sentences me to 10 years, and I serve 10 years, who determines the extra-judicial punishment for violating supervision? That assumes you can be sentenced to 10 years. You can’t in some states - for example in New York a determinate sentence automatically includes a period of post-release supervision. So you don’t get sentenced to 10 years. You get sentenced to 7 years incarceration and 3 years of post-release supervision or 10 years incarceration and 3 years post-release supervision. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-consume-alcohol-as-part-of-probation-for-non-alcohol-offenses/611093/26 "2012-01-30T22:43:46Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > If the convicted has served the entire term of his sentence, how much additional time could they be returned to jail for, if they violate supervision? If the judge sentences me to 10 years, and I serve 10 years, who determines the extra-judicial punishment for violating supervision? If you’re still on supervision, then you haven’t served the entire term of your sentence. If the convict is “off paper”, that means they’ve served not only their required minimum incarceration time, but also their supervision time afterwards too. They no longer have a parole officer acting as the agent of the state/judiciary supervising their behavior. Then they’ll have to commit a new crime to end up back in prison. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-consume-alcohol-as-part-of-probation-for-non-alcohol-offenses/611093/27 "2012-01-31T04:57:19Z")
> [@bup](#): > > Is that correct? > > I thought a urine test could detect previous alcohol consumption for a few days. Nope, only while you’re currently intoxicated. I think weed is the only commonly tested for substance that stays in your body for a period of days or weeks. Which is unfortunate because it’s probably the least harmful one too. > [@](#): > > Anyway, it’s a catch-22. If giving up alcohol as a term of probation is a huge imposition, then the person in question probably has a substance abuse problem. If it’s just a minor hassle, along the lines of “and you can’t eat pizza while you’re on probation,” then I’d think one would just sigh, mumble “whatever,” and do it. Unless you’re under some very strict supervision where the PO might show up any time or call and demand you come right in, or if you’re living in a halfway house or something, I think most people without drinking problems just drink anyway sometimes (if they followed rules they wouldn’t be on probation to begin with). If you’re just drinking in moderation at a safe place and not doing anything crazy, it’s not really risky. Even if you did get caught somehow you wouldn’t necessarily go to jail. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-consume-alcohol-as-part-of-probation-for-non-alcohol-offenses/611093/28 "2012-01-31T13:08:33Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I thought a urine test could detect previous alcohol consumption for a few days. It depends somewhat on the test, but if I recall correctly there are tests that can detect alcohol consumption for something like 48-72 hours after ingestion. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-consume-alcohol-as-part-of-probation-for-non-alcohol-offenses/611093/29 "2012-01-31T13:09:51Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > Nope, only while you’re currently intoxicated. I think weed is the only commonly tested for substance that stays in your body for a period of days or weeks. Which is unfortunate because it’s probably the least harmful one too. Incorrect on the alcohol. There are tests that pick it up after you sober up, based on metabolites of alcohol and not alcohol itself. Marijuana is detectable for up to three weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-consume-alcohol-as-part-of-probation-for-non-alcohol-offenses/611093/30 "2012-01-31T13:20:06Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Incorrect on the alcohol. There are tests that pick it up after you sober up, based on metabolites of alcohol and not alcohol itself. I didn’t know that. But is that test commonly done? I’ve known quite a few people on probation, and interned at a community supervision office, and never knew that to be the case. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-consume-alcohol-as-part-of-probation-for-non-alcohol-offenses/611093/31 "2012-01-31T16:53:58Z")
Last time I worked at a place where we did piss tests for drugs was back in the mid 1990’s so the situation may have changed. Back then we had several standard test panels, and if I recall correctly two of the three had “alcohol” as one of the testable drugs, about $25 a test. We had mostly Federal probation cases, and they all got one of the tests that looked for alcohol. So… possibly more common in some jurisdictions than others. Shortly before I left quicker, but more specific tests were arriving on the market. Our standard panels would find 15-20 substances, the newer tests far fewer. They were also cheaper, if less accurate. If those newer tests are now the common ones (possibly due to cost as well as quickness of results) then maybe routine testing for alcohol has dropped out of favor. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-consume-alcohol-as-part-of-probation-for-non-alcohol-offenses/611093/32 "2012-01-31T17:59:17Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > But is that test commonly done? It’s not as common simply because it’s more expensive. > [@Broomstick](#): > > . . .two of the three had “alcohol” as one of the testable drugs, about $25 a test. . . If those newer tests are now the common ones (possibly due to cost as well as quickness of results) then maybe routine testing for alcohol has dropped out of favor. Urine dip panels for the five or six most common drugs are pretty cheap, and they can be used for recent alcohol use, too, but if you want to test for alcohol more than about 36 hours before (with a solid result), it can be detected, but I’m pretty sure it has to go to a lab, so it just costs a lot more. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-consume-alcohol-as-part-of-probation-for-non-alcohol-offenses/611093.md?page=1)