Drinking from 21 a stupidity?

[Elden]

Originally posted by Stapel
I think it is a stupidity! Here drinking is allowed from 16, driving from 18...

Wow, in Australia it's the other way around: drinking from 18 (legally drinking that is, some start from 16 I started at 17) and driving from 16 (well 16.5 but you can learn from 16)

 

[Cimbri]

In Denmark there were not any legal-drinking-age-laws, prior to ’95 (or ’96 or some dang thing)
But you have to be 18 to get a driver license.

Public drinking is ‘officially’ illegal, but that law is NEVER enforced.
Even with the legal-drinking-age rules now (set to 15 years) nobody really cares.

Cimbri

 

[CurtSibling]

Originally posted by Stapel


I think there is a difference between sticking a needle in your addicted vains AND enjoying the taste of a quality whisky after dinner.

Depends if you ask a user.

In principle I think there is not.

 

[CurtSibling]

Originally posted by Cimbri
Public drinking is ‘officially’ illegal, but that law is NEVER enforced.
Even with the legal-drinking-age rules now (set to 15 years) nobody really cares.

Cimbri

I have seen cops in Glasgow enforcing that law with gusto.
A quite rightly.

Public drinkers should be given a hiding.

 

[CurtSibling]

Originally posted by Smaasnekje
OK, I'm back after drinking two pints of beer, Actually a litre, bu what tha hel... And I do spell completely correct.. But it's not fun to drink alone... Drink with your friends and your girlfriend if you have one...

Drink sucks.
I'd prefer a good round of sharp-shooting and fire-bombing next-door's patio.

But that's just me.

 

[Eklektikos]

I'm sure your neighbours would prefer you to drink

 

[CurtSibling]

They'll be too busy trying to put out the fire in their patio.

 

[Dralix]

Originally posted by ferenginar
I think that it is stupid for any country or state to set a legal age for drinking or driving that is higher than that required to fight and die for their country.

I was starting to how long into the thread I would have to read before this point was raised.

The problem with the drinking age being 21 is that at age of 18 you are considered an adult in the eyes of the law. You can now do all kinds of wonderful adult things: you can enter a legally binding contract, you can join the service, you can vote ... but you can't have a beer? That really is ridiculous. If you are considered an adult in the eyes of the law, then surely it makes sense that you should be able to have a drink.

 

[Stapel]

Originally posted by Dralix


I was starting to how long into the thread I would have to read before this point was raised.

The problem with the drinking age being 21 is that at age of 18 you are considered an adult in the eyes of the law. You can now do all kinds of wonderful adult things: you can enter a legally binding contract, you can join the service, you can vote ... but you can't have a beer? That really is ridiculous. If you are considered an adult in the eyes of the law, then surely it makes sense that you should be able to have a drink.

Men (and women) that don't drink, cannot be trusted! So they shouldn't have a right to vote at all !

 

[Dralix]

Originally posted by Stapel
Men (and women) that don't drink, cannot be trusted! So they shouldn't have a right to vote at all !

So you're in favour of a voting system where you have to pass certain checkpoints before you can vote, chugging a beer at each one? Kind of like office softball?

Umpire : You can't leave first until you chug a beer. Any man scoring has to chug a beer. You have to chug a beer at the top of all odd-numbered innings. Oh, and the fourth inning is the beer inning.
Chief Wiggum : Hey, we know how to play softball.

 

[Dell19]

Originally posted by CurtSibling
I have seen cops in Glasgow enforcing that law with gusto.

That usually happens about once a year here in Grantham, for the rest of the year there is practically no enforcement. Except one notable occasion when an RE teacher was asked for ID...

 

[polymath]

Curt, have you ever had a drink or three, or just got plain very drunk?

Although this a crude analogy, sometimes on a hot day everything is just a series of unassailable boundaries. But after a couple of cold ones you're on horseback, clearing those hedges with a mighty leap and careering off towards endless vistas of possibilities. The wind is in your hair and it feels good to be in the saddle...

(Of course, later on, you could well be on your hands and knees, noisily hurling chunks at the bottom of one of the hedges, but hey, what a ride!)

Nah, sometimes drink is great. Every young man should be recklessly drunk at some stage in their teens. Even if it's just in a 'know thine enemy' way.

 

[thestonesfan]

I respect Curt's opinion on substance abuses. I agree with him for the most part, but having a cold beer on a hot day is one of those things that make life worth living, in my opinion. But drinking for the sake of intoxication is truly a sign of a very bad weakness.

I won't extol the virtues of being "recklessly drunk". I don't see that there is any value in that, ever.

 

[metalhead]

Originally posted by thestonesfan
I won't extol the virtues of being "recklessly drunk". I don't see that there is any value in that, ever.

I will. Sometimes, it's the only way to get that hottie who normally won't even look at you into the sack. Sounds like value to me!

 

[Bamspeedy]

Originally posted by Nad
In America you definitely have to be 21 to buy alcohol, I'm not sure if you're allowed to drink before that age in your own home etc...may be our American friends acn enlighten us?

Also, the ID culture is way different. In England, since the age of about 15 I have never been ID'd to get into a club or buy a drink at a pub, because the general idea in England is not to be suspicious of people buying a drink unless they look really young. I found in America it was different, unless you were balding, had a beard or genuinely looked 30+, they ID'd you. I was 18 when I was in the States, though I've always looked a bit older, and I got ID'd every time I went to buy a drink...luckily I had a fake driving license

You have to be 21 in most states to buy or drink alcohol (unless you are with your parents or legal guardian). There is at least 1 state (maybe more) where you can drink and buy beer at age 18. In Iowa you only need to be 18, so that causes a problem with 18-20 year olds from neighboring Wisconsin and Minnesota to just drive across the border and buy their beer/go to bars in Iowa.

The main problem is colleges, as their are many students who can legally buy the beer, and many who can't. Underage drinking parties are commonplace at colleges (and for seniors in high school). These are illegal, but happen often enough anyways. Usually the only reason these parties get busted is because the party was getting too noisy and a neighbor called the cops.

Yes, most places are very serious about checking IDs because they can get big fines if caught selling to minors. I'm 27 and I almost always get carded for alcohol unless I have been to that place often enough that they know me (and had carded me numerous times in the past).

Funny thing though, is I get carded more often for cigarettes (legal age of 18), more than for alcohol.

The general rule is to check everyone who looks to be under the age of 30. But a friend of mine that is the same age as me had gray hair even in high school, so when he was 18 he looked like he was over 30. And just a few weeks ago he was at the hospital with another friend of ours, and she was just a couple years younger than him, and the doctor thought he was her DAD!

 

[superunknown]

I've noticed that alcohol, taken in sufficient quantities, can bring about all the effects of drunkenness.

 

[Benderino]

Originally posted by superunknown
I've noticed that alcohol, taken in sufficient quantities, can bring about all the effects of drunkenness.

Ahhh, he's got us there.

 

[Panda]

I can't understand the reasoning behind giving 18-years-olds the right to vote, teaching them to drive and shoot missiles, yet deny them alcohol.

But whatever the limit, what's the point if the kids still manage to get alcohol earlier? Every weekend I see children as young as thirteen (13) staggering around in the middle of the night pissed out of their skulls.

 

[thestonesfan]

Originally posted by metalhead


I will. Sometimes, it's the only way to get that hottie who normally won't even look at you into the sack. Sounds like value to me!

The rules don't apply to hotties, of course. Hotties are welcome to be recklessly drunk in my presence.

Well, not anymore, but that's beside the point.

The problem with drunk sex is that you have to find the perfect balance. If she's not quite drunk enough, you probably aren't getting any, but if she's TOO drunk, you probably aren't going to be finishing with the same gusto you started with, if you finish at all!

 

[test_specimen]

Embarassing, but I don't exactly know how old you have to be to be allowed to buy a alcohol around here. Probably 16 or 18.

21 is ridiculously high, and there is no plausible reason, why someone should be allowed to buy a beer if he's older, while not being allowed to when younger. If you start earlier you will be more responsible, and the fact that it is not prohibited will lessen the coolness of drinking alcohol.

Even if a lot of people say that "you can have fun without alcohol", it is true that some things are more fun if you are properly drunk. I don't want to miss all those St.Patrick's days or after-exam parties.

Most people are able to make just as stupid things when sober. If you start at 21 you just start later, no difference.

After having embarassed yourself once or twice you will most likely reduce the amount you drink without being told.