The difference between possession and consumption of alcohol by a minor?

[allison443]

OP here. He had to pay court costs and 50 hours of community service. Another boy at the party, same age, received a $25 fine and 20 hours of community service and this was his second offense this summer. He obviously had a different judge. It has definately been a learning experience for all of us.

Thank you for everyone's advice and thank you for not being judgemental. It is appreciated.

OP thank you for the update. It's one of those learning experiences that aren't fun. I'm glad he will be able to get it expunged.

I was surprised how many people on this thread were assuring you that this would be dismissed, the officer would just drop it, your son could explain himself and nothing would happen. I think this shows how different things can be in different jurisdictions and we can't believe everything we read on the disboards!

 

[kafitty]

i live in MA.

On July 3rd 2005, when i was 19, i was hanging out with my brother's friends (all 18ish at the time) when a cop became suspicious of what was in a backpack our neighbor was holding. We were all in another friend's car together.

ALL 6 of us were charged with possession. i myself had consumed maybe 2 beers that night, but certainly was not drunk and there was zero evidence that i had consumed anything.

Regardless, we were all arrested and were to report to court the next day.

However, i guess in MA there is a program designed as a "second chance" sort of deal - if you complete community service hours and attend alcohol/drug group counseling sessions, ALL evidence of the arrest will be wiped from your record.

Needless to say, we all jumped at the opportunity. i believe it was 8 hours of community service, and the classes were once a week for maybe 4-6 weeks? Nothing too heinous, anyway.

i know my record has been cleared, because since then i've had officers say to me, "Well, since your record is completely clean..."

So i don't know how it is in Ohio, or if they have a similar program, but YES, a minor can/will be charged with possession even if they are not PHYSICALLY possessing it at the time.