Legal drinking age in the US

[Rhymes]

I've been in the US for a month now, and I'm having such a hard time getting alchool. First of all, i get asked for ID all the time, which never happens in Canada, and second when I actually show them my ID's it takes them an averge 10 minutes to figure them out. It really pisses me off. The other thing is that everybody I know in college is 19 or 20, so they can never go out with me and have a beer. All they can do is find someone old enough to buy some for them and then throw a basement party. (which I hate)

It made me wonder if anyone in here is actually FOR 21 being the legal drinking age. Does anyone really believe that a 20 year old guy isn't old enough to get a beer with friends in a pub???

My other question is: Are there any groups or governments entities trying to change that? Do you see it happening some day?

 

[Mark1031]

I'd say legal drinking age 16. Legal driving age 21 or at best 18.

 

[Yom]

In pubs/restuarants/etc., it should be 18, but at home it should be the parents' decision. I voted "under 18."

 

[GenMarshall]

I would have the Legal drinking age to be at 18. If youre old enough to vote and die for your country (enlist or be drafted in the military), then you should be old enough to drink.

 

[The Last Conformist]

I've always thought that one's you're legally adult you should be able to buy alcohol.

As for drinking at home, that should be parents' discretion.

Voted 18.

 

[Shadylookin]

I don't think there should be one at all. Let the family decide it. If we absolutely must have one because people just can't understand the concept of the government staying out of peoples' business then make it so ridiculously low that it is irrelevant.

 

[h4ppy]

I'd just as soon make it illegal. (voted over 21)

 

[Rhymes]

Do any of you know if someone out there is trying to do something to lower it to 18???
Has it been brought up in the past?

 

[anarchywrksbest]

I would have the Legal drinking age to be at 18. If youre old enough to vote and die for your country (enlist or be drafted in the military), then you should be old enough to drink.

The voting age should definitely be 16. As for the drinking age? Well I'd say 16 as well.

 

[Civrules]

As is...
.

 

[Marla_Singer]

It seems awckward to me that people in the US are able to drive before being able to get drunk, but that's just because I'm not used to this. When it's about alcohol consumption, I must confess I have no problem with the French system. You can drink in bars below 18 if an adult (above 18) agree to let you so. There's no checking of ID, never. Actually, as long as someone which seems above 18 is at the same table as you, you can drink alcohol. However if three kids come into a bar and ask for a beer, the barman won't serve them and invite them to leave or to play to the flipper.

The law hasn't to be exactly respected. The common sense is enough to solve the critical cases such as the one desribed above.

 

[Rhymes]

The law hasn't to be exactly respected. The common sense is enough to solve the critical cases such as the one desribed above.

Thats exactly what I dont like about the US (or at least Oregon) they check everybody that might possibly be below 30 years old. I mean, I'm 23 I have a beard and weigh about 170 pounds, and I always get checked by 18 year old student cashiers, it's just not right.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

I have to agree we are such squares when it comes to stuff like this. Unfortunately I don't really see it changing anytime soon.

 

[superisis]

I dont get how the us allow kids to learn how to drive before they learn how to drink... I mean let them party & go crazy first, then when they calm down, allow them to drive home.

 

[Mark1031]

I dont get how the us allow kids to learn how to drive before they learn how to drink... I mean let them party & go crazy first, then when they calm down, allow them to drive home.

It's a great system. Since there is nowhere you can legally drink and many parents are reluctant to let you have parties with alcohol (as there can be legal consequences) what do you do but drink and smoke pot while driving around in your car at 16 (the only place no one is keeping an eye on you). It’s a great boost to the traffic fatality stats. and helps weed out the surplus population. Well at least that’s what we did when I was a kid,very stupid I’m lucky I survived. Hopefully kids are more responsible these days.

 

[croxis]

Ok so i just turn 21, and the boneheads that make the liquor laws in oregon is making me wait until MIDNIGHT to be able to get alcohol. My parents can't even take me out for my first drink on my birthday!

There are some other things that those poop heads have done that are just bizzar.

 

[Rhymes]

Ok so i just turn 21, and the boneheads that make the liquor laws in oregon is making me wait until MIDNIGHT to be able to get alcohol. My parents can't even take me out for my first drink on my birthday!

There are some other things that those poop heads have done that are just bizzar.

So I'm nto the only one having problems with Oregon......

 

[SeleucusNicator]

The drinking age of 21 is actually fairly recent. As late as the 1980's, drinking ages varried from states to states. Back then, Illinois had 21, but Wisconsin had 18. People from Chicago would always go to Wisconsin to drink.

Then, under Reagan, Elizabeth Dole, the Secretary of Transportation, set up a policy whereby states that did not adopt 21 as the drinking age would lose federal funding for highway projects. This got everyone to swtich to 21.

It is still run by the states, not by the federal goverment; but any state that changed it would lose federal funding, which none of them want to do.

 

[Rhymes]

The drinking age of 21 is actually fairly recent. As late as the 1980's, drinking ages varried from states to states. Back then, Illinois had 21, but Wisconsin had 18. People from Chicago would always go to Wisconsin to drink.

Then, under Reagan, Elizabeth Dole, the Secretary of Transportation, set up a policy whereby states that did not adopt 21 as the drinking age would lose federal funding for highway projects. This got everyone to swtich to 21.

It is still run by the states, not by the federal goverment; but any state that changed it would lose federal funding, which none of them want to do.

Thank you for the info. Plus I have a new reason not to like Reagan!

 

[SeleucusNicator]

Personally, I don't mind the current age at all. I am 18 and I have never had the slightest desire to drink alcoholic beverages, nor do I forsee myself doing so in the future.

Moreover, it is in the interest of the government to limit the number of people out there who drink, especially those who decide to get drunk and then drive. Drunk drivers result in accidents, and accidents not only result in more deaths (and therefore fewer soldiers, taxpayers, workers, etc.) but also in additional expenses, such as the cost of cleaning up accidents or the cost of taking care of people who are crippled for life in such accidents and not able to contribute to society.