Drinking Age

[Batman]

I think Canada got it right with 19.

How old do you think it should be?

Edited January 13, 2008 by Guest

[scott]

I say keep it 21

for this reason

B-man, have you been on a college campus yet?

It's easy enough for frosh and sophomores to get a hold of a case of beer, and make it any easier, those little morons will all be dead in a matter of weeks.

[Tenacious_Peaches]

^ That's natural selection, my brother. The weak and the stupid die first.

The legal age to do anything is so arbitrary. Vote and enlist to be killed in an unnecessary war at 18, but for chrissakes don't have a beer until you are 21. I think it should do with a maturity level instead of a physical age.

[scott]

As big a proponent of evolution I may be...

I spent a good amount of time in a dorm, and on the one hand, I feel anger and animosity towards those dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb young men... yet on the other hand, I kind of have to feel sorry for them...

[Tenacious_Peaches]

Give it a few more years with the dumb boys and get back to me with your updated theory on evolution, Darwin.

[Crazy Don]

I think it should be 18.

After all, you can vote at 18, you can join the military at 18, so why should you wait until 21 to drink?

[MarcM]

21. Unless they are in the military.

[The Seeker]

18. (as it is, pretty much)

Though I have to say I'm quite sceptical of the way it's handled anyway. I don't know anyone (I'll just exclude people I've never really talked to) who's never been drunk way before they turned 18. Yes, this is the UK and there's a bit of a drinking problem here anyway, but neither my friends nor me ever went out of our ways to illegally get hold of alcohol... it's very easy even if you're underage and don't look 9 or 10.

[Batman]

I say keep it 21

for this reason

B-man, have you been on a college campus yet?

It's easy enough for frosh and sophomores to get a hold of a case of beer, and make it any easier, those little morons will all be dead in a matter of weeks.

Yeah I just started my 2nd term of college and I have to say, lowering it to 18 would make it a little bit easier for me to get alcohol, but really, getting beer is probably the easiest aspect of college. I can't think of anything else that seems to fall into my hands more effortlessly. It even happens when I don't want to drink. I honestly don't think it would make that much of a difference.

The reason I say 19 is because while 18 may seem like the logical choice (with the argument that 18 year olds are legally considered to be adults), 19 is better because it provides a one year barrier between high school and college. While I'm not against high school drinking, I really think that if high school seniors had the ability to buy alcohol, a lot of people would have drinking problems by the time they reach junior year. Every high school freshman knows a senior, not every freshman knows a college student. And freshman year, you're new and you want to meet a lot of people and you're more likely to drink a lot since it's a good way to meet people. I think most people would be best off having the start of their drinking career be in their senior or junior year, by the time they've established who they are and who their friends are, and they can just get drunk with their friends and be less likely to drink too much.

sorrry for the long rambly post

[Farin]

here you're allowed to drink beer, wine etc with 16, harder liquors with 18

even though it's not that unusual to see younger people drinking

[Otokichi]

I'll go out on a limb and set the legal age to get drunk at 18. However, I'm of the opinion that buying/drinking of alcoholic beverages is something that requires a test + license. (At least as rigorous as gun ownership.) Fail the test, and you will be barred from alcohol consumption for a year. Pass the test, and you get a license to buy a six pack of beer a week. An arrest for public intoxication results in revocation of said license for a year. Oh yes, vehicular homicide due to excessive alcohol consumption results in immediate execution by firing squad. Buying alcohol for underage folk will result in a mandatory prison sentence for no less than 1 year. Making you own booze carries the same penalty as alcohol-induced vehicular homicide. A bit too harsh, you say? There have been far too many drunk drivers killing people lately. It's time to thin the herd and make the penalties for irresponsible alcohol consumption as serious as armed robbery or murder. Age has nothing to do with it, since "pillars of the community" can be "loose cannons" as readily as the average 16-year-old. Then there are penalties for driving while stoned or using a cell phone, but it's best to handle one problem at a time.

Edited January 14, 2008 by Guest
Forgot the "drunk age"

[c_s_1987]

It is 18 here. I certainly wouldn't like to see it put up or down.

[Viaene]

it's 16 here

[lonelyday]

Here it's 18...and while it was frustrating while I was 17 at uni but unable to get into clubs and bars i do think it's about right. If you can vote you should be able to drink.

Of course there still is a lot of under age drinking but i'm not quite sure how any country could avoid that.