Does the drinking age make a difference?

Question

I am 15 and I go to a lot of drinking parties. I don't hang out with "the bad" crowd, but everyone in high school around here goes to parties. I know in the states the drinking age is 21, so i am wondering if it makes a difference to what age the drinking parites start? is it older than 15?

I forgot to mention that i live in canada and the age is 18 here

Answer 1

I did my heaviest drinking when I was 17. At the time the drinking age was 21 for liquor, wine, and beer. The age was 18 for 3.2 beer (low alcohol content) There wasn't much of a stigma for under age drinking or even driving drunk, kind of like "boys will be boys." The only advice my father gave me was,"Make sure to throw out the empties into the ditch so you don't give anybody a flat tire." In those days a police officer would either follow a drunk home or arrange for a ride rather than make an arrest. I rarely drink now, but some of my younger friends who didn't do any under age drinking now binge drink like there's no tomorrow. My 17 year old goes to drinking parties and sometimes drinks at home. The main rule is "NO driving if you drink!" I think that forbidden fruit is always more appealing so why treat alcohol like it is something so dangerous.

Answer 2

The drinking age should be 21 or 22 for two scientific reasons. A recent study showed that the human brain does not fully mature and finish growing until you are 21/22. If you drink before you are 21/22 you are 1) damaging your brain from further maturity 2) not able to think clearly and at your best at a younger age because your brain is not all that it could be.

Answer 3

I think apart for from the maturity issue the main reason is medical, your body is still growing and drinking at an early age affects the growth of your liver and brain.

As stated a lot of European countries have very lax laws on underage drinking, but they don't have a binge drinking culture, Italy for example, a teenager is more likely to be chilling in a coffee bar over an espresso then hitting a club, they just use alcohol differently.

Answer 4

I seriously suggest you stop drinking til you hit
21. If you continue to drink from now until you
become 21 years old, you will end up looking
like your 40 years old even though you will be
21. Why do you young guys & ladies drink at
that age, are you trying to prove something or
your just trying to fit in the crowd. Don't follow
everyones foot step, sure is cool to party on
weekend and also you can have fun without
drinking too.

To answer your question, these days with
the young generation their is no age limit to
them. But by law the age is 21. I can not tell
you what to do but PLEASE becarful if you're
going to drink, drink as little as possible.

Answer 5

The reason the drinking age is 21, is because it isn't until that age that the brain is fully developed. Drinking stunts this development, so if you don't wait until 21, your brain will not develop as well.

This is not to say among other reasons. Younger people can't make educated decisions when sober, let alone drunk. Drinking decreases inhibitions = sex = 15 y.o. with babies and STDs

JUST SAY NO :)

Answer 6

in the USA, all the state's legal drinking age is 21... though most people think that it should be changed to 18... etc

anyway if you are drinking a lot by the age of 15 there might be a problem...

Answer 7

It makes a difference if people are willing to obey the law. I am 18 and I have never touched alcohol for two reasons.
1. I have decided not to ever drink
2. I am to young to drink.
It just dpends if a person has enough intergrity (doing right when no one is looking) to not drink even when they know they won't get caught. I have had so many oppurtunties to get drunk (like pass out drunk) but I choose not to. It's the person.

Answer 8

I started drinking beer at age 15. I drank at parties mostly. By the time I was 20, I was drinking every day. I was a full blown alcaholic for 20 years. I am in recovery now, But take it from me. It's a long hard ride!! Please stop now before it's too late!!!!!

Answer 9

Maturity. Alcohol has some strange affects on people and some aren't mature enough to handle it (even at the age of 21).

Answer 10

I think in Canada it is 19, but everyone knows that high schoolers drink. I drank every weekend when I was in high school. You can get arrested and have to do community service, but it never happened to me.