Introduction: To address the lack of epidemiological data on the levels of psychoactive substance use among adolescents, the French Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT) launched a survey in 2000 on lifestyles, health, and the use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs among French adolescents summoned to the Defense and Citizenship Day (JDC). The ninth round of the national ESCAPAD survey (Survey on Health and Behaviors during the Defense Readiness Call-up) took place in 2017. This latest round provides an opportunity to assess alcohol consumption and sourcing patterns among late adolescents in 2017. Methods: The survey was conducted among 39,115 adolescents aged 17, who were interviewed using a self-administered, anonymous paper questionnaire in March 2017. A cross-sectional analysis describes alcohol consumption and procurement by gender, as well as different levels of consumption frequency. Results: In 2017, 85.7% of 17-year-olds reported having ever consumed alcohol in their lifetime. Regular alcohol use (at least ten times in the month) affected 1 in 10 adolescents (8.4%), and 44.0% of 17-year-olds reported significant occasional drinking (SOD) during the month. Furthermore, despite the ban on selling alcohol to minors, 91.0% of adolescents who reported having consumed alcoholic beverages in the past month had purchased them in a store, and 77.5% had consumed them in a licensed establishment. The majority of them (52.7%) also reported never having been asked to show identification to prove their age when making a purchase at a bar or restaurant. Conclusion: The results of ESCAPAD 2017 confirm the widespread prevalence of alcohol use among adolescents and the persistence of heavy episodic drinking (HED). Furthermore, the ban on selling alcoholic beverages to minors appears to be ineffective given the ease with which adolescents seem to obtain them. While these preliminary analyses show a slight but significant decline in experimental and regular alcohol use between 2014 and 2017, they also highlight the need to strengthen enforcement efforts to better ensure compliance with alcohol sales laws.