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Technically, you're allowed to drink with parental permission in your own home. I think you may even be allowed to drink wine at a BYOB with your parents, but that one may vary. So as far as trusting the judgement of the parents, the law pretty much does that... if the parents are there.
You suggest the parents of kids who are dumb and irresponsible should keep their kids away from alcohol should make sure that at no point while the kid is out of site, are they buying alcohol, but how would they do that if it were legal for 18 year olds to buy alcohol?
One of the main reasons the age was moved up is because of the early drinker situation. For you to drink at 18, you have to know someone who's 21. There's a good chance of that at 18, especially once you get to college. But what if the legal age was 18. Now you only need to know an 18 year old, and that includes most kids in high school. Consider how common underage drinking is in college and now imagine it in high school. That's actually exactly how it used to be.
The push to 21 is really just a push to keep the early drinkers sober until they're out of high school. If you're 18 and near a college and can't find a drink, you're not looking very hard.
Like I said, if your parents trust you as much as you say they, then you can drink with them in most states, but without that, the person selling the alcohol has no way of know if your parents trust you or if you're an irresponsible child who forged a note from mommy saying you can drink today.
Depends on the state. In my state, PA, we have the strictest and most bizarre liquor laws. For example, if you want liquor or wine you must go to the state store (all liquor stores are owned by the state with certain hours and set prices), if you want a case of beer you must go to the beer distributor, but if you wasn't a six pack you must go to the bar. Nothing is available in gas stations, convenience stores, etc. Also most states have a religious and parental exception to drinking but PA has none.
Back in the 70s and 80s NJs drinking age was 18. My dad said his friends used to all drive over the bridge to NJ (only a thirty min drive tops) and get drunk.
I drank a lot in my teen years but once I turned 21 I stopped completely. Believe me, once you can legally do it then it loses its appeal fast. Plus I hate hangovers. Lol
Technically, you're allowed to drink with parental permission in your own home. I think you may even be allowed to drink wine at a BYOB with your parents, but that one may vary. So as far as trusting the judgement of the parents, the law pretty much does that... if the parents are there.
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What States allow this??? Certainly not around where I live(Delaware).
Because alcohol just isn't necessary for a young person at all (or anyone really). And the less people drinking it, the better. All alcohol does is ruins things: health, society, relationships, etc, etc.
not like 12, but I think 18 is reasonable ... If anything leave it up to the parents. My parents know I'm a good kid and know that, if it was 18, I wouldn't be at the bar nightly getting hammered. If your kid is dumb and irresponsible, keep them away from it as best you can. No one magically matures on their 21st birthday, plenty of people of legal age are morons. I was watching that " What would you do" show and 1 episode had 2 soldiers both 20, try to get a beer and they were refused. Really? So you're telling me at 18, I'm allowed to buy a house, get married, buy cigarettes, adopt, get shot at in battle and go to strip clubs. But drinking a beer is a no-no?
"No one magically matures on their 21st birthday." Correct. Also, the human brain has not finished developing at 18. Very convincing new evidence from the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta shows the human brain doesn't stop developing at adolescence, but continues well into our 20s.
Considering what a lot of alcohol does to the human liver, why inflict it on a brain that is still coming into its maturity? According to researcher Christian Beaulieu, ""What's interesting is a lot of psychiatric illness and other disorders emerge during adolescence, so some of the thought might be if certain tracts start to degenerate too soon, it may not be responsible for these disorders, but it may be one of the factors that makes someone more susceptible to developing these disorders." Why do anything that could increase degeneration?
Just like their elders, teenagers are going to drink if the are determined to, no matter what the law says. But there's no reason the law needs to go out of its way to help people make poor decisions.
Do you really think having a few beers with friends at age 18 is going to so affect your brain development?
Whats with all this Prohibitionist attitudes. There is nothing wrong with moderate alcohol consumption.
The problem is that "few beers" or a "glass of wine with dinner" doesn't play into younger people drinking, especially males. The most common drinking scenario then is drink until you're falling down drunk. Lather, rinse, repeat.
That's what usually being talked about with brain development. Also, the younger someone starts a behavior with an addiction potential (drinking, smoking) the more likely it is that an addiction with ensue. That's a combination of physical addiction and scrambling of the pleasure centers in the brain (mostly dealing with endorphin production).
I could post, oh, a couple hundred studies on both teen/early 20's drinking patterns and physical and brain development in that age group but it's too early for me.
Laws don't stop 18 year olds from drinking. It's not like the behavior isn't happening just because of the law.
You want to talk about something that screws with a developing mind, send them overseas to watch their friends die beside them. I can certainly understand wanting to come home and having a few beers after that.
The definition of "legal adult" should be consistent across the board. Technically, by keeping the drinking age at 21, we've created a special class or subset of adults where the law is not equally applied.
However, one significant drawback of the lower drinking age is that a great many 18 year olds are still in high school. It is all too easy to purchase booze for underage friends. This certainly was the case when I was in high school.
What States allow this??? Certainly not around where I live(Delaware).
Colorado
Quote:
Originally Posted by pknopp
Laws don't stop 18 year olds from drinking. It's not like the behavior isn't happening just because of the law.
You want to talk about something that screws with a developing mind, send them overseas to watch their friends die beside them. I can certainly understand wanting to come home and having a few beers after that.
But that is not the issue we are discussing!
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