Legal Drinking Age in the United States

Beitrag von pezz

Why is it f*cked up?
Parents should be the ones that decide what a minor under their care should/should not do.

Just my opinion. If i can keep my daughter's from drinking until they move out of my house i have succeeded.
Fat chance? Not really. But still, I'll try.

Hopefully their resulting complete lack of experience with alcohol doesn't mean they discover their own personal limits after getting their stomachs pumped once or twice.

Edit: And the point of that law wasn't so much to curb drinking among under 21s so much as it was to stop drunk driving accidents.

The problem you had was that people living in states where they could drink at 20 would drive to a state nearby where they could drink at 18, then try to drive home on a highway at night stupid drunk.

Beitrag von Squishalot

That's exactly why I'm getting back in contact with some of my advanced language buddies - maybe we can get some solid information to settle this. I understand that it sounds unreliable without evidence, but don't totally dismiss it before we have any evidence for or against it. I would invite you to find something stating that the etymology of that phrase as something other than Yiddish.

See MyTie's response. I believe it stems from people's laziness to enunciate their sentences properly, in much the same way as 'pwned' originated from a typo. The idea that it came from Yiddish or from 'purely owned' is justification after the fact.

Beitrag von 224056

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Beitrag von Sweetscot

I guess I came from a strange family...I was allowed to drink reasonable amounts of alcohol (like say 2 glasses over an evening/night) from a fairly early age but we were living in Mexico at the time where I was legal :)

I think the 21 limit is silly simply because you can do pretty much anything else at 18 and 18 is the "adult" line set in the usa. At 18 you can grad. high school, have a job, even have a wife and child of your own...but you aren't supposed to be able to buy a beer? It just doesn't make much sense to me, I don't have any sort of studies or detailed reasoning beyond "feels stupid" though.

Beitrag von Monday

At 18 you can grad. high school, have a job, even have a wife and child of your own...

You can have any of those at 16 (although with parental permission for the last one), and none of them stint the growth of your brain.

Beitrag von pezz

False. Being in proximity of small children is definitely bad for your brain. They're terrible little creatures.

Beitrag von Monday

False. Being in proximity of small children is definitely bad for your brain. They're terrible little creatures.

I won't disagree =P

Beitrag von 475128

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Beitrag von Squishalot

True enough, but I looked into it today anyway. It didn't originate in a Yiddish environment, but the structure of both that and the other version share a common speech pattern with many other Yiddish sentences and phrases. Make of that what you will.

Therefore, the butchering of the phrase into 'could care less' isn't Yiddish in origin, and is more likely to be simply butchery.

False. Being in proximity of small children is definitely bad for your brain. They're terrible little creatures.

I won't disagree =P

That's because you're not Asian and you let them get away with murder :P

Beitrag von 475128

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Beitrag von 204878

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Beitrag von Squishalot

However this is not a perfect world and so I think the age for purchase is too high (18 sounds reasonable to me and that's the age here) however I believe the age for consumption should be lower as long as they're under adult supervision if they're younger than say 16

Why?

Beitrag von Adamsm

Mainly because there are parts of the world, where kids as young as 10, are used to a glass of wine or something similar during the major meal of a day; such as Mexico. Sure there are people who abuse the sauce, but if you ever notice, the main countries that get based for alcohol use and under age kids seems to be places such as USA and Canada; that's mainly because they go over board with the 'forbidden' fruit when they can get at it.

Beitrag von Squishalot

You could argue the same thing with cocaine, heroin and marijuana too. And underage sex, and driving, and owning firearms, etc.

Beitrag von Adamsm

Beitrag von 204878

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Beitrag von Squishalot

I know a lot of people who drink just to get drunk; they started in high school because it was 'cool' to 'break the law' by swiping the booze out of their parents liquor cabinets. It wouldn't hurt to lower the age, or at least not make it seem like drinking/getting drunk was the big taboo against the 'Man'; I'd have a few more people that I actually liked still around if that was true.

There's no taboo against drinking and getting drunk in Australia. We've got a purchase limit of 18+. It doesn't change what kids do between the ages of 14 and 25 one bit though, except that they can then legally purchase alcohol between 18-21, and thus, legally get smashed at their end-of-highschool celebrations.

Do I think that lowering the age will change anything? Not really. The people who will spend a lifetime getting smashed will still get smashed. The people who swipe drinks prior to being permitted to purchase will still swipe drinks prior to being permitted to purchase. All it does is change the age at which the rebels do their binge drinking. As far as I'm aware, there is research that suggests that binge drinking when you're older is 'safer' for your long-term health than binge drinking when you're younger (i.e. while your brain is still in development). Make what of that as you will.

I had alcohol before cigarettes, and at the time in the UK the age to purchase cigarettes was 16 and alcohol was 18. I had my first real cigarette at 16 after a particularly stressful 3 hour English Literature exam and I believe my decision was as informed as it could have been (in retrospect), my knowledge on the matter remains basically the same although I'm more competent as to the chemistry aspect now and my experience has taught me some things but I was very much able to make the choice on my own at that age and I see no reason why anyone else with a comparable education and childhood couldn't.

The same is basically the same for alcohol however I'm a bit more wary about alcohol because cigarettes only harm the person taking them (I'm unconvinced by the evidence for passive smoking but that's another issue), whereas alcohol can be dangerous to others when introduced to a person with violent tenancies or who makes poor decisions because of it (such as driving under the influence).

I'm finding it difficult to understand your point. You're arguing that alcohol requires more of an informed decision relative to cigarettes, due to the social consequences of alcohol fueled behaviours. I don't follow how your personal story of having had your first alcohol prior to your first cigarette is relevant to the argument.

Earlier, you argued that people should be able to drink from 16 and up without supervision, even if they can't purchase it at that age. At the moment, you're arguing for 18. This seems inconsistent.

My point is - I don't see any justification for 16 or 18 or any other age number from your arguments.

So, why not?

There is some reasonable justification for proposing limits of 18 or 21, based on physical / mental development, and the impact of social drugs (of any sort, including alcohol, tobacco, pot, etc.) on such development. But at the moment, the argument that you and Adamsm are presenting could essentially be extended right back to birth. Should 6 year olds be allowed to drink under parental supervision?

Beitrag von Adamsm

Beitrag von Squishalot

That is Aus though; here and in the States, they make such a big stink about kids not drinking that most of them just do it to go against the rules; I was never one, but that's mainly because of things at home. I'm not against drinking, but if the legal age was lower or they changed the stigma that came from it; too be cool, you have to drink, I really think we would see a lessening of the drunk drivers we have around here. And again, here in Canada, the legal age to drink is 19 in most of the provinces, with Quebec, Alberta and Manitoba letting it happen at 18.....which is something you do see from Ontario kids who live on the border, taking a hop over to hit the bars there to get blitzed.

I get that the attitude is different over there. All I'm saying is, even with the attitude that you're hoping for (less of a stink about drinking) and a reduction in age restrictions, it doesn't change what kids do.

Think about what the Quebec kids do when they're 17. They still find ways to get their alcohol buzz. Ontario kids might have an interstate outlet when they're 18, but that doesn't change the fact that all kids who want to drink will find a way to do it.

Beitrag von 557539

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Legal Drinking Age in the United States

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