Expert: Paul Wagner - 1/5/2009

Question
I have been told that if you are on privet property and you have the owners permission you can drink alcohol even underage but only in small amounts. is this true for Oregon

Answer
HI Justin

This is a legal question, and I am not an attorney--and certainly not one licensed to give legal advice in Oregon.  So if you REALLY want the answer, you should contact an attorney in Oregon.

With that said, there are two different scenarios here, and each have very different repercussions.  

One is that you are at home with your family, and your parents allow you to taste a small glass of wine during Christma sdinner with them.  I don't think there are many prosecutors who would file charges in that situation, no matter what the state. (the Jewish Seder dinner calls for all to share in the wine---and most families invite their children to do so at a relatively younger age.)

The other scenario is one in which you are at a large party with a lot of young people, and the property owner (or a relative who may or may not be of legal drinking age) gives you permission to drink five shots of vodka in an hour.  

In that case, there is every reason to expect that a prosecutor would file charges against the owner--and maybe you, too.

Obviously, there is a lot of grey area in between.  Do you have your parents' permission to drink small amounts of alcohol?  At your grandparents' house?  Is it wine?  or is it Tequila shooters?  Just one drink to try, or a few?  And are you going to spend the rest of the evening in that home, or are you then going to a party, or driving a car?

Technically, legal drinking age means just that--if you are not older than 21, you can't drink.  But most communities have enforcement guidelines that reflect the variables I have outlined above.

Paul Wagner