Can I drink this here?

Given Las Vegas’ liberal alcohol laws, it can be hard to know where and what you can drink when you step outside your home or hotel.

Neither the City of Las Vegas nor Clark County has a general prohibition on drinking in public. It’s illegal in both, however, to consume alcohol in a container that was purchased in a store, in that store or within 1,000 feet of it. That means if you buy a beer in a 7-11 or Walgreens, you can’t drink it in the store, the parking lot or nearby.

The city also prohibits drinking that alcohol within 1,000 feet “of a church, synagogue, public or private school, hospital, special care facility, withdrawal management facility or homeless shelter.”

The city also has special rules for the pedestrian mall at the Fremont

Street Experience and the Fremont East Entertainment District against consumption from glass, metal, or containers that were sealed when purchased. Just to possess such sealed containers of alcohol, they must be in a sealed bag. That means you can’t buy a beer in Walgreens, step out under the canopy and pour it into your plastic cup. If the Metropolitan Police Department catches you with a closed beer or a six-pack in a bag that isn’t stapled shut or otherwise sealed, it can confiscate it.

“My biggest suggestion for people coming in here is to purchase from the casinos, purchase from the bars, and you’re not going to have any issues whatsoever,” says Lieutenant Dustin Butler of Metro’s Downtown Area Command.

“But if you are to purchase off-sale liquor, just make sure you keep it in the bag. And then you just go to your hotel room or whatever and put it in a plastic cup and you’re good to go.”

Once you get outside the Fremont tourist corridor, however, and away from schools, medical facilities, homeless shelters, places of worship and stores that sell alcohol, you’re free and clear to drink what you like in most of the city and county, so long as you don’t violate public intoxication laws or get into a car.

Henderson, however, is a different matter. “Basically in the City of Henderson, it’s going to be basically prohibited to have alcohol in a public area, public street, public roadways, unless there is either a special event taking place where a permit has been obtained or it’s a city facility where it’s a city sponsored event where alcohol is allowed,” says Rod Pena of the Henderson Police Department’s Public Information Office.

You’ll also want to be careful at county parks. According to Clark County Parks and Recreation’s website, “It is prohibited to consume alcoholic beverages on roadways, parking lots, playgrounds, swimming pools, athletic fields, tennis courts, community centers and at youth events without prior approval of the Director of Parks & Recreation or designee.”