Drinking Ages, the world over.

[Draco]

Here in New Zealand, they recently lowered the legal drinking age from 20 to 18 years, along with it came a whole set of new problems. Drunk teens on our streets, a higher DUI rate etc. More trouble, more viloence, more murders. Now the NZ govt is talking about raising it to 20 again, to combat these issues. What I want to know is....

Whats the legal drinking age in your state, county, town, country etc..? Does this cause any problems like the ones stated above. Do you think at the applicible age, the people are mature enough to handle drinking?

Also, all comments readlily accepted.

Please state where you are from and that locations legal age:

 

[Freya]

19 in Canada. And you have drunken idiots of all ages, so it's of no consequence what the age is. Now that I am over the legal age, I do agree with it how it is. Dumb though, because while they vote at 18, drive at 16, and potentially can smoke pot at 16 - they can't drink til 19.

 

[Ask For More]

It's 18 here, but most kids are already drinking before that anyways

I can't really comment because it's never been higher. Although I do think there is a inherent drink culture among english people that carries a lot of problems with it.

 

[Artemesia]

I'm in Texas...

The year I started high school they raised the drinking age from 18 to 19 - to keep high school kids from getting drunk at lunch. When I started college it was easy to get served - they didn't really care as long as you were close enough to the legal age. By the time I had graduated, they had raised it again to 21 and cracked down on fake IDs and bars that served without checking IDs. I don't know if it really helped anything or not.

 

[QuickDuck]

I think Australia is 18 nationwide and for as long as i can remember, has always been.

 

[Draco]

OK, what started this question was...a radio commentators blanket statement that the US's legal age was 21, I disagreed and figured the best place to poll would be LIT, a collection of liberal minded people from all corners of the world and particularly the US. Keep em coming...I'm going to build the results into a graph and email them to this radio commentator, so he can get his facts straight.

So the more detail you can give, like city, county etc, the more accurately I can assemble the info...plus I dont want to limit the results to the US, I want them from all over the world.

Thanks to all those that have replied, and those that do after this comment...

Cheers
Draco.

 

[morninggirl5]

It is now 21 in every state in the US, Draco.

Each state sets it's own legal drinking age, but the feds will not give any transportation funds to any state with a drinking age lower than 21.

Louisiana was the last state to go up to 21 and that happened over 10 years ago.

 

[Simply Me]

Alabama=21

 

[babydawl]

like its already been stated, its 19 in canada, and i like that, since ill b 19 in just over 3 months...lol

 

[seXieleXie]

morning girl has it right. every state can set it's own drinking age. it used to vary from state to state, but that basically encouraged drunk driving among teens who would go from their home state to another state with a lower drinking age. the federal goverment dealt with this by denying funding for interstates to states whose drinking age wasn't at least 21.

on a side note, i think you may be able to buy beer and malt beverages and such in hawaii when you are 18, but you have to be 21 for hard liquor. i'm not positive about that though.

 

[mike_mike02128]

Here, like everywhere else in the states is 21 yrs old. I have been drinking since long before that and feel that I am just now getting to the point of being a responsible drinker at age 30. It is too much for younger people to handle with peer pressure, partying, and the lack of responsibility. I know it was for me. I am not condoning anything, because I know I have done many many stupid things while intoxicated, and luckily I have never been caught, hurt, killed myself or anyone else. Dont know how. It was easy enough to obtain, so the age limit was not a factor. I look back and wonder how and what I was thinking. I still enjoy drinking, and do so often. But now I have a better sence of control and responsibility. So to think they should lower the drinking age would be without question a mistake in my mind. Sorry young ones, but your life and others are more important than being able to drink.

 

[Claypool_84]

like its already been stated, its 19 in canada, and i like that, since ill b 19 in just over 3 months...lol

5 months for me...and I'm counting the days!!

Actually Things won't be much different than they already are. Scratching my 1984 into a 1981 on my extra ID got the job done. Kudos to whoever came up with that one!

 

[phrodeau]

Alcohol is bad for you. It's poisonous to your body and it alters your judgment.

That's all I want to say, and only because I don't see anybody else saying it.

 

[kotori]

when i was 18, the age was 18. i survived.

a friend on my daughter's (16) was killed in a car wreck a couple of months ago--the driver of the other car was drunk--and well over the age. that being, like in every other state, 21.

i'm not a big believer in the cause-and-effect.

 

[Azwed]

Louisiana had a loophole in their drinking age for the longest time. I think it went something like people 18 and up good buy alcohol but they could not drink it.

I think that was changed just a few years ago.

 

[Jim_Henson]

Australias 18 seems to work farily well... it drives me mad the US going to spots and showing ID all the time for 21...

 

[wizbit9]

18 in the u.k but most kids start getting wrecked at 14

 

[LovetoGiveRoses]

We can become soldiers at 18 and have bullets shot at us, but having a beer is too dangerous.

As was pointed out, irresponsible drinking is not the sole province of 18-21 year olds. There's a lot of drunkedness by people over 21 too. If a place has an intoxication problem, it ought to address intoxication rather than putting a patch on it and only restrict 18-21 year olds. 19 might be a better age, because at least kids are out of high school.

 

[Artemesia]

I thought irresponsible drinking was a requirement for a college student - like English or Political Science.

Doesn't make it right, that's just the way it is.

 

[Never]

phrodeau:
"Alcohol is bad for you. It's poisonous to your body and it alters your judgment."

Red wine is good for you. It relaxes you and helps prevent heart problems.

Artemesia,
That's the way it is for those who choose to make it that way. College students really aren't mindless herds, really.

 

[Jim_Henson]

really

 

[LovetoGiveRoses]

LOL, put breathalyzers on cars so they won't start unless you pipe some "clean" breath into them. Let 19 year olds (and everyone over 19) have a drink with the recognition that they can't drive their cars with alcohol on their breath.

 

[Claypool_84]

LOL, put breathalyzers on cars so they won't start unless you pipe some "clean" breath into them. Let 19 year olds (and everyone over 19) have a drink with the recognition that they can't drive their cars with alcohol on their breath.

I've thought of that one too. You'd end up seeing people storing their breath in little baggies, or paying sober people for their breath *lol*

dont think it wouldnt happen!

 

[Pixie]

Well, I'm in Finland, where there's a state owned monopoly in selling and importing the stuff.
They are loosening the reins slowly though...

It's 18 here and 21 for the hard liquor.
Oh, and the driving age is 18 also, or I think 16 for the lighter motorbikes and such.
I'm not sure, since I don't have a license myself.