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There is no federal drinking age in the US however when the feds wanted it standardized they threatened holding up highway funding if state did not comply.
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In the UK young people can drink at home, as long as they are over 5 years old, and can go in to a pub with an adult, however they can only consume alcohol in a pub or restaurant when aged 16 or over and only went accompanied by an adult and this is subject to licensing conditions, with some pubs especially those that serve meals being more accommodating.
However young people can not buy alcohol themselves or legally go in to a pub on their own (without a responsible adult) until they reach 18 years old.
There was a move by a charity to tighten laws but it was rejected.
In the UK young people can drink at home, as long as they are over 5 years old, and can go in a pub with an adult, however they can only consume alcohol in a pub or restaurant when aged 16 or over and only went accompanied by an adult.
Now there's a law I could see people respecting enough to take seriously. All sorts of bad things can happen at bars and pubs where you're drunk around strangers...although five years old does sound a little young to be hitting the bottle.
then publicly brags about the great fake I.D.s they had and nobody blames them.
Any decent bartender or bouncer can spot a fake easily here in PA, the better ones don't even need to look at it. There is a very small bump on a specific part of the ID if you know where to run your fingerprint. It's not some giant secret but probably 99.9999% of the population doesn't even know it's there. I'd imagine people with the fakes could try and mimic it by indenting the back of the ID.
In addition to that the online fakes do not employ a specific hologram they use. The black/white keystone with the circle shifts from white to black depending on how you rotate it. The fake ID's use the standard rainbowy hologram.
Any decent bartender or bouncer can spot a fake easily here in PA, the better ones don't even need to look at it. There is a very small bump on a specific part of the ID if you know where to look for it. Probably 99.9999% of the population doesn't even know it's there.
In addition to that the online fakes do employ a specific hologram they use. The black/white keystone with the circle shifts from white to black depending on how you rotate it. The fake ID's use the standard rainbowy hologram.
People I knew used to get into bars anyway. They more often used to buy it from stores or gas stations. I don't think those sorts of minimum wage workers get that sort of training.
Why? I look at it like, who is that keeping from drinking? I don't think I know a single person who waited until they were 21 to drink. Everybody just ignores the law, scoffs at it, then publicly brags about the great fake I.D.s they had and nobody blames them.
It would reduce some deaths of young people from drunk driving. Any amount of people saved is a bonus...
It would reduce some deaths of young people from drunk driving. Any amount of people saved is a bonus...
In one study, researchers found 36 percent of U.S. college students said they had engaged in binge drinking (five or more drinks in one sitting) in the past two weeks in 2011, compared with 43 percent in 1988—the first year all states implemented a legal drinking age of 21. Among high school seniors, binge drinking decreased from 35 percent in 1988, to 22 percent in 2011. https://drugfree.org/learn/drug-and-...d-to-21-study/
Meh...that's something, but 7% really isn't that much. Another change we've had since 1988 has been the invention of videogames and computer games for adults. That was the thing to do as your screw off activity in college much more than drinking. Drinking was just kind of a side-thing to do, and a thing to do for the extreme socialites.
It could just be that people under 21 are drinking less not because of law changes, but because the invention of adult video and computer games offered different leisure activities. It could also have to do with better education about the affects of binge drinking, or a reduction in peer pressure that comes from our society's seeming rise in acceptance of individuality over the years, or something like that.
And of course, with easy access to the internet and DVD's rather than the old, bulky tapes, electronic entertainment is far more available. Risking your life on drunk driving for a good time becomes less desirable now that you can just watch any movie you want for a couple dollars or less with your buddies on your laptop.
Last edited by Clintone; 09-28-2017 at 05:59 AM..
Reason: added in the last line
If you are old enough to be shot at you are old enough to vote, drink, carry a pistol and you can add anything else to this list where 18 year olds are currently limited or people wish to limit them.
The reason it is illegal, is because it is assumed to be in the "interest" of society to make it illegal.
Imagine you had a child whose parents died, and he stood to inherit millions of dollars. How old should that child be before he was allowed full control of millions of dollars? What do you think an 18-year old would do with say, $10-million dollars?
We can obviously debate about whether it is actually in the interests of society for alcohol to be illegal for 18-year olds, or whether it really makes a difference. But no one honestly believes an 18-year old is fully capable of making responsible decisions that could impact not only their own lives, but the lives of others.
The government already doesn't recognize you as a "full adult" until you are 25-years old. Your parents are still "partially" responsible for you until then.
I'm not a huge fan of laws as a matter of principle. And I think most parents have allowed their children to have a glass of wine or champagne, or a beer, and I have nothing against that. I think that if there are responsible adults around, I don't see an issue with people under the age of 21 drinking.
But, I think "going to a bar", where there are incentives for various people to take advantage of young/naive people, make it at least reasonable to want to use the law to protect them.
Why? I look at it like, who is that keeping from drinking? I don't think I know a single person who waited until they were 21 to drink. Everybody just ignores the law, scoffs at it, then publicly brags about the great fake I.D.s they had and nobody blames them.
To play the Devil's advocate here (not necessarily agreeing with this)
The distinction between 18 or 19 and 21 plays slight social and physiological differences in being able to responsibly handle drinking.
Are there exceptions? Absolutely.... but you can't make laws based on exceptions to the rule.
But the bigger reason is that 21 puts many young people in a different social group....more likely to be in college and hanging out with older people whereas 18/19 is still possibly in high school and hanging out with younger teens.
The theory supposedly being that more younger teens could access alcohol through their 18/19 year old friends and classmates.
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