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You bring up some interesting statistics. Raises the question does American lower the drinking age, or would raising the driving age be better? Maybe young people shouldn't be learning how to get drunk & learning how to drive at the same time. Then there is cell phones & texting, or a car full of friends talking at the same time. Would like anyone's views, but especially the teens that are affected by current or future laws. Then there's cannabis, with THC tester falsely accusing of impaired driving in many cases.
Interacting with friends on computer, & maybe being stoned, makes many under 25+ feel no need 4 car.
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Originally Posted by Frihed89
In Denmark, a car costs 2.8 x it's sticker price. The tax is 180%! The drinking age - which is not enforced - is 16, because kids can't drive until they are 18 and, even then, very few of them can afford a car. So, the worst that can happen is that they fall off their bicycle or throw up on the public transportation.
It's different in America, right? So, the drinking age is higher than the age at which a kid can drive.
I didn't start drinking until I was about 30, & it was about 5 beers a day right from the start. I didn't know if I should feel guilty, but figured it out I do this because of neurological disorders. I would drink less if I was in a state where cannabis was legal & more affordable, & could get the strains that would help me most. So for now, I may be killing myself as our govt-corp alliance wants me to do. But I do take several kinds of liver wellness pills each day.
Around here, liquor stores are almost being stacked on top of each other. But those under 18 are less involved with tobacco, alcohol, & even soda pop. Just mostly sticking to healthy cannabis despite the laws that threaten them.
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Originally Posted by Lodestar
Currently about 30% of Americans are experiencing problems related to alcohol use. That number is so high that it's nearly impossible to believe but a few quick googles will confirm its veracity. What it says to me is that, while we all give lip service to drinking responsibly, many of us aren't doing so. The evidence is easily observable in any public place where alcohol is being served.
I see no good reason from a health standpoint to hasten the use of alcohol for our young. It seems like forever before you grow up but is faster than you think.
If you can die for your country in the military, get married, have children, drive a car, vote, be held to legal contracts, and be tried as an adult in court at 18, then you should be able to legally drink and gamble at 18.
If you can die for your country in the military, get married, have children, drive a car, vote, be held to legal contracts, and be tried as an adult in court at 18, then you should be able to legally drink and gamble at 18.
You can join the military at 17; you can get married at various ages depending on the state. In Mississippi, you need parental permission if you're under 21. In New Hampshire, brides must be at least 13 and grooms 14, with parental consent. In some states, no one may marry under age 17 Teen Marriage License Laws, Minors Requirements, by State
There is no age at which you cannot have a child, legally. If you get pregnant, you can have the baby.
You can drive at various ages in different states. You can get a restricted license at 14 1/2 in S. Dakota. The age for full license varies from 16 to 21. Driving Age by State List - Parents and Teens
Some states allow one to enter into contracts at 14. Contracts of Minors
Age 14 is the most common minimum age to be tried as and adult; 23 states have no specific age. Trial as an adult - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Someone can set up a trust for you that you can't use until a certain age, past majority, e.g. 25.
There are different ages for many different things.
I'm in US in 4th tier suburb, with bus service 5 AM- 9 PM +. Maybe somebody should, or has, done a study to see what influence this has on youthful drinking, bus service vs no bus. I'm not really disagreeing with you, as I have no doubt not all metro areas have it so good.
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Originally Posted by Tallybalt
The United States is a highly decentralized country with the vast majority of its people, especially teenagers, living in suburban environments with minimal to no access to public transportation.
Drinking is a youth cultural "problem" in Europe in that heavy drunkiness is common, especially on weekends, as anyone walking through a European town center on a Friday or Saturday night can confirm. But those kids don't pile into cars, for the most part, and drive home. They take the bus. Or the metro. Or the train. Even suburban areas in Europe often have excellent public transportation links. Due to the high cost of car ownership, far fewer European teenagers own their cars, compared to US teenagers.
That's the big difference. American kids are no more or less responsible than European kids, but the built environment they live in is very different due to the lack of mass transit, and the built environment American kids live in is much more conductive to drunk driving and death from drunk driving.
Its very simple why the drinking age should be 21. When it was eighteen in some states, there were more fatal automobile accidents. The effect of raising the age to 21 (from 18) in the 1980's resulted in approximately 1,071 lives per year being saved. Over ten years, this is over 10,000 lives.
Some things really don't go together well. Among those things are teenagers, alcohol, and automobiles.
I didn't drive (had a license but no car in college) until after I was 21. If it's just driving, why should have been prevented from drinking because others my age might drive and drink? If given a choice, I'd rather have been able to drink legally rather drive legally at that age. In any case, making alcohol illegal for those under 21 wasn't very effective at preventing drinking.
I drove daily to college because my school was on the other side of town and driving was much safer/faster. While I did flout the law at under 21, it sure as heck did prevent me from having easy access to alcohol. I could sneak into a bar sometimes but that was the limit of it. I would say lack of driving would have been far more harmful to me than lack of drinking. I can do without alcohol but being forced to ride the CTA daily for 1:30 instead of an 30-45 min. drive ugh. Not to mention those darned heavy books that I had to haul. Getting my car was an extreme help.
Come on people, face reality - the drinking age was raised to 21 because the hack politicians pandered to the loudest voices and ignored their youngest constituents who only recently had gotten the right to vote and were not exercising it to any great degree. Sure, there was a background of alcohol related drinking and driving accidents, but there had been since cars became common. This selective prohibition was worth votes and that's what matters most to politicians.
The United States is a highly decentralized country with the vast majority of its people, especially teenagers, living in suburban environments with minimal to no access to public transportation.
Drinking is a youth cultural "problem" in Europe in that heavy drunkiness is common, especially on weekends, as anyone walking through a European town center on a Friday or Saturday night can confirm. But those kids don't pile into cars, for the most part, and drive home. They take the bus. Or the metro. Or the train. Even suburban areas in Europe often have excellent public transportation links. Due to the high cost of car ownership, far fewer European teenagers own their cars, compared to US teenagers.
That's the big difference. American kids are no more or less responsible than European kids, but the built environment they live in is very different due to the lack of mass transit, and the built environment American kids live in is much more conductive to drunk driving and death from drunk driving.
This is part of what I was trying to get at in my post.
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