US legal drinking age.

[Drifterwood]

Is it really 21?

So you can vote, own guns, drive, fuck either sex, marry, die for your country before you can have a beer?

Bizarre.

 

[simcha]

Yes, it's 21, isn't that ridiculous?

 

[Drifterwood]

I am trying to get my head round the fact that I would have been in my second year of University before I could have had a beer.

My Dad started taking me to the pub when I was 15.

 

[Principessa]

Is it really 21?Yes, it is. In some states it was 18 or 19 but that started changing in the late 1970's early 1980's. I turned 19 in 1985 and was attending fashion school in NYC. New York had just raised the drinking age from 19 to 21. There was a grandfather clause so I was one of few in my class able to buy liquor legally.

So you can vote, own guns, drive, fuck either sex, marry, die for your country before you can have a beer? Bizarre.

I know a girl who got married at 18 and I remember there being a huge argument because she wanted a champagne toast at the reception and her very religious parents forbid it.


Wait a second we let George W. Bush be President, TWICE and that's what you find bizarre?! :tongue:

 

[SpoiledPrincess]

It would have seriously interfered with my clubbing activities when I was 15.

 

[whatireallywant]

In the early 80s when I was in college in Ohio, it was legal to drink 3.2 beer at age 18, but everything else was 21. In Indiana it was 21 for everything. They changed the drinking age in Ohio to 21 for everything during my last year of college - but then, I was 21 by then! :biggrin1:

As far as I know, it is 21 for everything in all states now. I think it should probably be lowered to 18, since the age for a lot of other stuff (voting, entering the military, etc.) is 18.

 

[Principessa]

*SNIP* I think it should probably be lowered to 18, since the age for a lot of other stuff (voting, entering the military, etc.) is 18.

That's really not a good rationale for lowering the drinking age, WIRW. The only way I would vote to lower the drinking age to 18, is if we raise the driving age to 21. I am sick to death of hearing about drunk teenagers wrapping their car around a tree and dieing. Or worse living; and killing someone else who hadn't been drinking.:frown1:

 

[HazelGod]

Is it really 21?

So you can vote, own guns, drive, fuck either sex, marry, die for your country before you can have a beer?

Bizarre.

Interesting caveat...if you're willing to sign up to die for the country before turning 21, then you can legally drink upon showing your military ID.

Go figure.

EDIT:
Nevermind...apparently this rule was abolished a while back. Fundies in action!

 

[Principessa]

Interesting caveat...if you're willing to sign up to die for the country before turning 21, then you can legally drink upon showing your military ID.

Go figure.

I forgot about that! You are indeed correct.

In Pennsylvania the law used to state that you could buy bullets at age 18; but you could not buy a gun until 21. I guess you were expected to just throw the bullets really hard for 3 years. :biggrin1:

 

[whatireallywant]

That's really not a good rationale for lowering the drinking age, WIRW. The only way I would vote to lower the drinking age to 18, is if we raise the driving age to 21. I am sick to death of hearing about drunk teenagers wrapping their car around a tree and dieing. Or worse living; and killing someone else who hadn't been drinking.:frown1:

Well, there are drunk adults who do that too. So really the best thing is to crack down even harder on drunk driving. I'd be ok with the 3.2 beer at 18 and everything else at 21 though, like it was in Ohio when I was there and aged 18-21.

 

[HazelGod]

In Pennsylvania the law used to state that you could buy bullets at age 18; but you could not buy a gun until 21. I guess you were expected to just throw the bullets really hard for 3 years. :biggrin1:

Federal law requires people to be at least 18 to purchase long guns and ammunition for them...the minimum age is 21 for handguns and their ammo.

 

[Ethyl]

Is it really 21?

So you can vote, own guns, drive, fuck either sex, marry, die for your country before you can have a beer?

Bizarre.

Totally. N_S is having difficulty wrapping his head around that one too.

Interesting caveat...if you're willing to sign up to die for the country before turning 21, then you can legally drink upon showing your military ID.

Go figure.

EDIT:
Nevermind...apparently this rule was abolished a while back. Fundies in action!

If you are willing to die for your country, the first thing you need is a drink, IMO.

 

[braumeister]

There are exceptions to the drinking age, see:

http://alcoholpolicy.niaaa.nih.gov/index.asp?SEC={EEB63D59-3FF3-4C82-B4E2-E967F2BA231D}&type=B_BASIC

Drinking age is set by the states. During the Reagan years, the feds threatened to withhold highway money if states didn't enact a 21 year old drinking age.

I wish the states would have told the Reagan administration to pound sand, the drinking age is pretty idiotic.

 

[No_Strings]

It is truly odd. I myself began drinking a little at 13 or 14 (can't rememebr) and it's quite a scary prospect that MB will need to buy all my drinks for me for the next 2 years. :tongue:

 

[Mem]

What is the drinking in Europe?

 

[kalipygian]

Legal drinking age - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Looks like the US is about the only non moslem country to have it set at 21.
Many have no age.
This is an example of the old not respecting the rights of the young.
In many communities there is no alternative social gathering place for gay people besides a bar, this leaves people between high school and 21 with no place to go. It used to be that under age people were allowed in, but not allowed to purchase, due to strict enforcement, they are no longer allowed in at all. A bar is in danger of losing it's liquor license if underage people are caught inside.

 

[SpeedoGuy]

Ah, another bash-the-US thread from our cultural betters overseas.

 

[Yonkers]

The legal age for drinking down here in Oz is 18. Sometimes though I think that still might be too young.

Yonkers.

 

[Mem]

I think with all the drunk driving problems that 21 is a good age for drinking. If it were 18, all the 15 year olds that look older would get fake I.D.s.

 

[whatireallywant]

I think with all the drunk driving problems that 21 is a good age for drinking. If it were 18, all the 15 year olds that look older would get fake I.D.s.

Even with it being 21, there are a lot of 15 year olds who look older getting fake IDs. :biggrin1:

I have a kind of funny story about that. I was at a theatre workshop when I was 17, and a bunch of the others who were there were going to try to get into the bar. They flat out told me not to come with them because at 17 I looked like I was about 10 or 11 years old! :biggrin1: They came back and said that even without me there, they weren't allowed to go in. I guess they couldn't pass for 21...