Are underage drinkers "criminals"?

[oagersnap]

There is no fitting poll option for me. Where I live, underage drinkers are neither criminals nor "criminals" - there ist no law that forbids people of any age to drink, only a law that forbids selling alcohol to children under 16, i.e. it's a crime for stores to sell alcohol to underage kids, but not for the kids to buy it. This is also the way it should be, in my opinion.

 

[SuperJay]

That wasn't controversial at all, Mobby. You got my hopes all up and everything.

I agree up to a point - I don't think it "needs to remain" at 21, that's not a magic number or anything. But you're probably right that it could lead to problems if we just lower the drinking age without anything changing in our culture. As a whole, I think we need to be more responsible about alcohol but less melodramatic about it. If it's just seen as a normal thing and not this secret forbidden fruit, maybe teens wouldn't be so prone to abusing it.

 

[MobBoss]

That wasn't controversial at all, Mobby. You got my hopes all up and everything.

I agree up to a point - I don't think it "needs to remain" at 21, that's not a magic number or anything. But you're probably right that it could lead to problems if we just lower the drinking age without anything changing in our culture. As a whole, I think we need to be more responsible about alcohol but less melodramatic about it. If it's just seen as a normal thing and not this secret forbidden fruit, maybe teens wouldn't be so prone to abusing it.

Right. But we both know that cultures dont change like that, and i'm not willing to pay the price in young lives lost just so a teenager can feel more adult since they can buy alcohol legally. Its just not worth it to be honest.

 

[El_Machinae]

Unless they're drinking and driving, then it's just another victimless crime.

Drinking and driving is also a victimless crime! Unless other misadventures happen.

 

[Theige]

The organ that alcohol affects most doesnt stop growing/developing until about age 24.

It's very arguable, actually, that the human brain never stops developing.

 

[MobBoss]

Drinking and driving is also a victimless crime! Unless other misadventures happen.

There have been so many innocent lives lost due to drinking and driving I fail to see how anyone could even suggest its a 'victimless' crime.

 

[SuperJay]

Right. But we both know that cultures dont change like that, and i'm not willing to pay the price in young lives lost just so a teenager can feel more adult since they can buy alcohol legally. Its just not worth it to be honest.

No, of course our culture isn't going to turn on a dime and change dramatically overnight. But it can change, and should change, and if we can be responsible parents to our children (nationwide, I mean), then we could get to the point where the legal age isn't as much of a factor. IMO we should at least get back to WWII standards - if you're old enough to die for your country, you're old enough to have a beer on the way.

 

[warpus]

Simple enough question really. Drinking underage is against the law, and sufficiently against the law (in many countries anyway) that you could actually have to go to court, pay a fine, and get something on your "record". It's also a crime that hundreds of thousands of people commit.

Do you think it is appropriate to label these people "criminals", or should that designation be reserved for only more serious crimes? If they are not criminals, what does one have to do to become a criminal?

Doesn't it depend? Is it still illegal if your parents give you booze? That's how it works in most other places, I think. If your parents give you booze under their supervision (say, a beer or a glass of wine at dinner or champagne at new years eve) then it's not illegal.

I hope that's how it works in the U.S.

I'm not sure where this conversation has gone, too lazy to check, but I'd just like to add that the drinking age in the U.S. is far too high. It causes too many problems.

 

[MobBoss]

No, of course our culture isn't going to turn on a dime and change dramatically overnight. But it can change, and should change, and if we can be responsible parents to our children (nationwide, I mean), then we could get to the point where the legal age isn't as much of a factor. IMO we should at least get back to WWII standards - if you're old enough to die for your country, you're old enough to have a beer on the way.

If our issues with teen pregnancy are indictive of the type of culture change you are shooting for, it would still be decades upon decades for our culture to catch up to the change once done.

Again, I am not inclined to make it knowing the cost in lives that would result. Especially not for the simple reason a teen can feel more like an adult by buying alcohol legally.

I mean, what other benefit is there to be had by reducing the age to 18? Just so 18 year olds can feel more adult? Thats not enough of a reason for me to make it happen. I (and probably the vast majority of adults out there) need a better reason than that. Bear in mind the 'they are already doing it' argument holds no weight with me either. Thats just bad parenting to give in to that reason, so nope, need one other than that as well.

 

[RedRalph]

Yes, technically they are but seeing as Americans cannot drink to save their lives it shouldn;t be a problem for you people

 

[kochman]

Yes, technically they are but seeing as Americans cannot drink to save their lives it shouldn;t be a problem for you people

Ha! Maybe the youngens can't... but the only folks I couldn't keep up with were in Sweden, and they were all Brits.
I think I could take them now, I was much younger then.

 

[RedRalph]

Ha! Maybe the youngens can't... but the only folks I couldn't keep up with were in Sweden, and they were all Brits.
I think I could take them now, I was much younger then.

Yeah Brits are no great shakes either... our only peers are the Russians

 

[NetGear]

i always figured it was 21 just so college kids can have more fun drinking. I mean how fun would it be for kids to do legal activities?

 

[downtown]

So I actually started this thread without drinking in mind at all.

My objection primarily came from people (some posters here, some elsewhere) who would refer to illegal immigrants, particularly the child in the CT thread, as criminals. It appears that most of you here create a distinction in your mind between crimes, which many of you thinking that "criminals" are the ones who commit felonies, not misdemeanors, like underage drinking.

It's worth point out that illegal immigration isn't a felony, unless they steal a SSN or commit an additional crime. It's a misdemeanor. Perhaps those who are unwilling to apply the term "criminal" to all who break laws (which would include virtually everybody, and thus lose its emotive meaning), should not use the term for illegal immigrants.

 

[schlaufuchs]

Meh, sure the law is on the books, but it's so blatantly ignored across the entire country that it doesn't really even matter.

Just like pot. At least in SC that's how it is.

 

[NovaKart]

Are families in Europe really that close knit? Maybe in Southern Europe. I think the British binge drink more than Americans on average.

 

[bhsup]

Alternatively, we need to change illegally invading our nation, violating our sovereign territory, pissing on our Constitution, and just in general mocking our very existence based on the rule of law to a felony. Rather shocking that it is just a misdemeanor.

 

[NovaKart]

What are you referencing here? States rights again?

 

[bhsup]

What are you referencing here? States rights again?

No. Illegal immigrants invaders.

 

[NovaKart]

I see, so that's why you got your knickers in a knot over the Mexican flag thing. You're one of those "minutemen" types. I have to say, I've never seen such an extreme reaction to illegal immigrants before.