it seems if someone can vote, go to war and be considered an adult in criminal cases, they should at least have a beer.
when in the military, a person can go to an overseas base when he/she is 18 and drink, but when returning to america, they can't.
or will we admit that we just aren't as socially responsible as other countries?
2007-03-01 12:35:27 · 12 answers · asked by mricon 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Politics
i dont know but that sux here in australia it is 18
2007-03-01 12:40:09 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
When prohibition ended laws regarding alcohol were left to the states. The government threatens to withhold funding for things like highways even if states that didn't comply with the age limit of 21. America is a control oriented society. 21 is the highest drinking age in the world by the way.
2007-03-01 21:04:52 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
During my second year of college, they changed the drinking age from 18 to 21. I was furious. At a GOP fundraiser banquet, I went up to our governor's table and told him that I was "uncomfortably sober" since he passed this ridiculous law which was killing my social life.
So, I commiserate with you.
However, you brought up a very interesting point: for some reason, Americans just don't seem to be nearly as socially responsible as Europeans. Here a kid of 15 can probably get a beer without being hasseled, even if the legal drinking age is higher. However, he doesn't get drunk every night.
I don't hear about teen girls here getting pregnant like their American counterparts.
When kids here take drugs, they do it as a lark, not as a habit.
I am amazed at how much self control and maturity European kids have. Most European teenagers travel all around Europe with very little money, and their parents do not worry. They know they can take care of themselves. Can you imagine the reaction of an AMERICAN parent if their son or daughter announced they were just going to travel around for a month or so?
Maybe American youth is less responsible because we stigmatize everything, and make so many things taboo. An American kid can't wait to start drinking alcohol because it's been the "forbidden fruit" for so long. Here, kids don't care. It's always been available, and it's no big thing.
2007-03-01 20:47:11 · answer #3 · answered by pachl@sbcglobal.net 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The drinking age is 21 because males 18 to 24 were getting slaughtered on our roads.
I practically guarantee that if you join the military, you can drink at 18.
For the smarty liberals, the drinking age has been 21 since before Clinton.
2007-03-01 21:28:31 · answer #4 · answered by ? 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Ruth actually you cannot drink in the military at 18 unless you are stationed in a country where the age is younger.
As for the drinking age I agree that if you can fight for your country you should be able to have a beer if you want to. However do we really want our high schoolers able to purchase alchohol with all the teenage problems with alchohol do we want to make it easier for them. Maybe we should say 18 if you have graduated that way it may be incentive to stay in school and graduate.
2007-03-01 21:38:28 · answer #5 · answered by epaq27 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because our brains stop developing after the age of 21, it is at that age that scientists have determined that the human brain is fully grown and developed. drinking alcohol kills brain cells and interferes with its growth.
Another reason is that in the USA teens would be abusing alcohol, and people are beasts in the USA. They dont know how to drink, but in places like italy,greece,germany,spain, etc, there is no drinking age because since a very early age children have been taught to drink moderately and it is natural in those countries to drink a glass of wine with dinner or drink a beer, without having to drink the whole pack of coronas.
Thats why. :) hope i helped
2007-03-01 20:46:41 · answer #6 · answered by JoseMaria G 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A group of scientists and [mostly] politicians got together and found that problems caused by irresponsible drinking sharply decline around the age of 21.. For most people, this is around their senior year of college.
So the politicians created another law to protect us from ourselves.
Note: drinking age laws have not reduced the instances of teenage and young adult drinking and related problems.
2007-03-01 20:42:56 · answer #7 · answered by Anthony A 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
No one is forced to join the military,so I fail to see what the connection is to being in the military and lowering the drinking age.The two are not related at all.
2007-03-01 22:53:35 · answer #8 · answered by Jan 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because Bush understands the full effects of alcohol from his own indiscretions. He doesn't want the 18 year olds who he sends to fight his personal battles to in any way be less than 100% alert and ready. He cannot take the political fallout of defeat. Thus, it is so.
2007-03-01 21:03:13 · answer #9 · answered by Dark Helmet 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
because the government is stupid and think that that will solve all of the drinking problems, when really it just made them worse. Really I think they thought that our brains aren't fully developed until we were 21.
2007-03-01 20:54:29 · answer #10 · answered by heatwave1341 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because 18 was tried once and found that they couldn't handle it.
2007-03-01 21:42:13 · answer #11 · answered by Kevin A 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋