No Alcohol Under The Age Of 21?

Question

How do you think about the law "No Alcohol Under The Age Of 21"? In Germany 16 years old can buy beer and cigarettes and 18 years old can buy Whiskey. I think that 18 is the right age. You are old enough to know what you do. In my opinion 18 years old are adults not minors. The 21 age limit for casinos and alcohol is ridiculous. But 18 years old can buy unhealthy tobacco, porno and be a naked at Playboy and be a nude. Why isn't this only for 21 olds allowed?! And the rule "Show your ID card if you appear under the age of 40 if you want to buy tobacco or alcohol." You have to prove your age until you have gray hair. I've never found such stupid law like this one, adults are treated like little children.

Is this law everywhere in the USA?

Answer 1

Yes and 21 is the oldest age any country in the world sets for the drinking age. I agree that it is unfair, but I do understand why it is set at the age it is.

There are a lot of studies which show that during the number of fatalities from alchol-related crashes decreased signifigantly after America returned the drinking age to 21 in the 1970's.

The reason: No matter what age you set the drinking age at, people are going to buy for their friends. If you set the age at 18 then 18 year adults, who are still seniors in high school, are going to buy for 16 and 17 year olds.

Answer 2

Nope. The drinking ages are set at the state level. But if you want highway money from the government for your state, you set the drinking age at 21.

In WI, you can get into a casion at 18. You can also work at a bar as a bartender - but you can't drink.

I am in agreement with you, though for different reasons. If you are old enough to give your life for your country in a war, then you are old enough for a beer. If you are old enough to vote for the yahoos that will run our country, then you should be able to have a Jaegar Bomb if you so choose. And if you are old enough to be your own legal guardian and be considered an adult, then you should be able to have a Captain and Coke with your friends.

I don't know though. I was drinking way before I was 21 (ooops!). When I turned legal for drinking, it wasn't as much fun anymore, so I didn't do it as much. I think there is a certain maturity level in a 21 year old that isn't there when a person is 18. But our laws are controdictory in that department. Write the politicians of your state and create some noise. Make it an issue, and then do something about it. Whining here on Yahoo Answers isn't going to change a darn thing.

Answer 3

I beleive by your question that you are about 18. I agree with you that the legal drinking age should be lowered to 18. This way we can thank those that protect our freedom by buying them a drink. However most 18 year olds do not know what they want to do with their lives, it's not a valid argument. I think there are much better arguments than that for lowering the drinking age.
18 year olds are considered adults, they can be tried as an adult, they can serve in our armed forces, and they have the ultimate privalage of being allowed to vote. At the age of 18 we trust people to make the right decisions, and give them many privlages that we give to adults, however when it comes to the decision of drinking a beer our government says no. It's one of those laws where some came up with numbers to prove that 18 year olds were buying alcohol for minors, and getting in more accidents while intoxicated. In reality I personally beleive someone came up with numbers that showed the local governments could make a lot more money off giving tickets to 18 and 19 year olds for underage drinking.
Sorry to all you that are between 18 and 21, but this is one of those laws that the government feels it is protecting you by having on the books.

Answer 4

Yes, this is the case all over the US. I think that if the government says that at 18 you are old enough to fight and die for your country, you are old enough to drink. One of the arguments for keeping the age at 21 is that by this age, your body has basically finished its growing process. This is absurd. Tobacco might have ill effects on the physiology before 21, just as alcohol might, but in a different sense, it is up to the person using the substance to decide how much damage (or not) they cause their body. I find it ridiculous, as well, that at 18 you are allowed to do basically everything else, but not drink. We are voting at 18! That might be considered a more important decision than "should i have a whiskey tonight?" because it affects not only the person choosing a candidate, but the entire country. I agree that 18 should be the legal drinking age, but the conversion time from 21 to 18 here in the US would be pure mayhem for a short time. Still, I think it would be worth it.

Answer 5

You can argue about laws all you want but the law has been passed and obviously people agree with it. If they did not it would have been changed by now. I see how (some) 18 year olds act with a vehicle, I would hate to see how they act with alcohol and a vehicle. We can argue all day that 18 year olds can be just as responsible as 21 year olds and I would agree with you! There has to be a line and they made that line 21. Could they have made it 18? yes but they did not and people voted for the 21 year age. Live with it! Trust me its not hard to get what you want at any age so if its that important to you then run for congress and make a difference. I do guarantee when you start to educate yourself to become a senator you will realize that the age of 21 to drink is just fine.

Answer 6

Don't be silly. The rule is no LEGAL alcohol under 21. Back when alcohol was legal at 18 in many places, the poor policemen didn't have an easy way to hassle kids. So they went to the legislature and said, "Give us a handle on these kids. If you make it illegal to drink, instead of just illegal to drive drunk, like it is when they are 21, you make it easy to get any kid we want on probation, and subject to a million petty rules." And the legislature said "Fine, that's just what we want you to have," and changed the legal age of drinking to 21.

So, for example, if you are 19, legally an adult under most circumstances but not legal to drink, and you stay home to drink because you are not interested in driving drunk, and you get a little noisy in that partying, and the sheriff is at the door, he can check IDs and take you all in. If drinking was legal at 18, all he could do would be to tell you to quiet down, no more than what he'd do if you were over 21.

Are you getting my point? It is the power trip for the police that makes such a rule so appealing. Remember that when you vote.

Answer 7

Yes, every state in the union requires that you must be 21 years of age to purchase alcoholic beverages. The laws started changing in the late '70's and into the '80's because so many high school graduates were getting killed in alcohol-related accidents. Casinos came in line with the age of 21 because serving alcohol is where they make most of their money, and they wouldn't have been able to serve alcohol in the casinos if they allowed anyone under the age of 21 to gamble.

It's really a tough call -- on one hand, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to say 18 for cigarettes or porn, then 21 for alcohol and gambling. On the other hand, I lost five close friends before my 21st birthday in alcohol-related accidents, and I come from a family of cops so I've seen a lot of drunk-driving accidents. I'm convinced that there are an awful lot of Americans over the age of 21 who aren't mature enough to handle alcohol...

Answer 8

While I understand the need for the law, it really does know good anyway, because where there's a will there's a way and if kids want the alcohol they'll get it. And at the same time, it seems like 18 gets younger and younger and more immature. Perhaps ages for more things should be increased to 21...smoking, driving, voting, joining armed services, etc.

Answer 9

Researchers found that when processing emotions, adults have greater activity in their frontal lobes than do teenagers. This change happens in your early 20's. Simply put, 18 is not equipped to make rational decisions when sober, let alone under the influence of alcohol.

It's not any arbitrary opinion, it's based on years of psychological study.

And the reason it's legal to buy tobacco at 18 is only because the tobacco lobyists are much more powerful in Washington than the alcohol interests. Hook 'em young, that's their motto.

Answer 10

You're right in that there's no real logical reason for the drinking age to be so high, but in practical terms, someone turning 18 is usually moving out from the parent's house, starting to live on their own and starting to drive a lot more. This is probably not the time to learn how to handle your liquor.

Personally, I think people should be taught by their parents how to drink responsibly before they're even 18, but many in America today think of alcohol as evil and kids should be sheltered for a long as possible.