Can I drink here, can I drink there? How many feet am I away from drinking legally? Should tourist bring a laser measuring tape so they know when they can drink? Should a tourist bring their own legal team with them?
As absurd as that seems, it is what tourist are thinking when they read about the over 1000 citations that have been written in ERROR since the Fremont Street East snobs have been complaining about People drinking alcohol on the street. Never has the City of Las Vegas paid any attention to the open container law until the East fremont street businesses demanded action.
For the record, the law has not been changed, it has just suddenly been interpreted differently by different groups of People. The law has always allowed You to walk down the street with a open container of alcohol. But there is a law that says that if You purchased a sealed bottle of alcohol including an unopened beer at a liquor or package store You could not consume that same alcohol within 1000 feet of any liquor or package store. Everyone knows that liquor and/or packages stores all over Vegas are within 1000 feet apart so that part of the law would mean that Anyone buying from one of those stores could not consume it Anywhere in Vegas. But on the Strip, Nobody cares, Who could prove that Your alcohol didn’t come from the MGM Casino instead of ABC stores? No harm, no problem, enjoy Your night! But not so much in downtown, outside of the canopy of the Fremont Street experience. Don’t think You are safe even if You are going to catch the bus, just steps outside the Experience.
Anyone that has visited Las Vegas has bragged to their friends when they returned home about how easy they can drink alcohol all over Vegas without a care in the world. And to this day, Las Vegas Metro never question what You are drinking when You are on the Las Vegas Strip. You can get Your picture taken with a Las Vegas Metro officer on the Strip with a bottle of beer or mixed drink in Your hand and they are nothing but friendly about it.
So far the hassle is only happening outside the Fremont Street experience Downtown. If You get a citation, You could easily fight it and win, but what if You are from Orlando and do not care to fly back to Vegas to get out of paying 250.00 dollars? If You are a local Vegas resident, You have the option of taking 3 hours out of Your day to fight it but tourist must pay the fine and never come back to Vegas again. Way to go Vegas!
The best thing to do is stay away from Fremont Street East at all cost. Do not walk in that area, do not go in a restaurant or bar, do not support the businesses that are harming tourist. This is truly not the Las Vegas Metro officers fault, they are doing as they are told. In fact, an officer admitted to Me, off the record how much He hated the pressure to ticket innocent tourist. Tourist that forever were told to come to Vegas, where You can do anything in sin, especially walk around drinking alcohol!