Of Beer and Babies

[Elle]

Currently, the drinking age is 21 in all 50 states. There used to be a lot of variation - beer and wine at 18, liquor at 21; any thing at 18; nothing until 21, etc... but in the 1980's the federal government starting withholding highway funds from any state that didn't have a minimum drinking age of 21. There are still a lot exceptions, which vary by state, but 21 is the minimum age to purchase alcohol everywhere in the US. For the most part, exceptions include consumption for religious purposes and consumption at home in the presence of a parent/guardian. In North Carolina, where I live, it is illegal for someone under age 21 to possess alcohol, technically can't even push the grocery cart with beer in it while shopping with a parent (yes, I was once scolded by the store manager when I was a teen). There used to be a loop hole where it was illegal to possess or consume alcohol under age, but it wasn't illegal to have alcohol in your system. When I was in college, it was pretty easy to get away with drinking because you just had to ditch the cup at the first sign of trouble. Just having it in your system wasn't illegal, so as long as you weren't caught with drink in hand, there were no charges. The state has since closed that loop hole, and will charge teens who have a BAC over 0. The only legal exception is for religious purposes, and even then there are a lot of rules.

When I was a teenager, my mom and I were at the store, and one of the items in the cart was a bottle of cooking sherry. The stuff you're not going to drink. We were going to use it to cook with. But the cashier couldn't sell it to her because she had a minor with her. In Oregon, liquor laws are STRICT. And even now, stores can only sell things with an alcohol content of I think 8%. Anything over that and you have to go to a state-run liquor store, and they close early and are closed on all holidays, and some are closed on all Sundays. You can't buy Bailey's Irish Cream in a grocery store. But you can buy some brand called O'Mara's that has a lower content. The alcohol selection at Costco is very sparse because of this. Today is the first day Washington State will allow private liquor sales, and I think a lot of Portlanders will be heading to Vancouver to buy alcohol, and since flashing an Oregon ID gets sales tax taken off of everything there, it will still be tax-free.

Honestly I think the age of majority should be raised back to 21. It was lowered when the government needed more young men to be able to go fight in wars and parents weren't consenting to their minor sons enlisting. While you'll find the occasional teenager who is extremely mature, I think we can all agree that MOST kids are still KIDS when they turn 18. Most aren't even old enough to have graduated high school! The human brain doesn't finish developing until several years later. Literally the only reason the age of majority was lowered was so men could sign a contract giving their lives to the government. This gave 18-year-olds the right to sign other contracts, like credit card application, rental agreements, marriage licenses, etc., which is what gave them adult privileges. I don't believe we should be letting kids be sent off to war. For every mature teenager there are many more who think "Fuck yeah, I'm an adult and I"m gonna carry a big gun like a MAN!" Whether they follow through of not doesn't matter. We shouldn't be sacrificing kids who usually aren't mature enough to fully understand the full impact of all the consequences. Even older men and women who understand and go to war return haunted and with issues they're dealing with from atrocities they saw, and maybe even participated, since that' war, it's not pretty and you're going to be taking lives. Letting our children, whose brains are still several years from completing development, sign up to go do that seems like cruelty.

So I don't think the alcohol-buying age should be lowered. I think the age of majority and the ability to sign up for war needs to be raised back to 21.

[CanadianHippie]

If we are going to wait until someone's brain stops developing before we consider them adults we are going to have a long wait. It used the be they though 21 was when the brain stopped developing, then they were saying 25, now they are saying 29. I don't doubt in a few years it's going to be older than that.

I don't agree that most kids are still kids when they turn 18. I'd say, most kids who go through their teen years being treated like kids will still be kids when they turn 18. Kids who are gradually introduced to more and more responsibility over the course of the adolescence will be mostly adults by the time they are 18, some will be adults before that.

The drinking age in my Province is 19. That is too high in my opinion, it should be 16.

Also, the only people capable of fully understanding the consequences of joining the military and going to war are those who have already done it. I don't care if they are 18, 21, or 51 they can't understand what it means to be in the middle of a war zone being asked to kill and die for their country if they've never done it.

[TXDuck]

I don't agree that most kids are still kids when they turn 18. I'd say, most kids who go through their teen years being treated like kids will still be kids when they turn 18. Kids who are gradually introduced to more and more responsibility over the course of the adolescence will be mostly adults by the time they are 18, some will be adults before that.

QFT.

[B5SnowDog]

You know, states could have said "that's okay, keep your highway funding!" and kept any drinking age they wanted. Is the purpose of the federal government no-strings pork these days?

I think Louisiana did that for a while. I remember that the drinking age in Louisiana was 18 when my high school orchestra traveled there for a competition back in the mid '90s. I've been told that's why the roads were so crappy but I don't know if that's true.

[TXDuck]

I think Louisiana did that for a while. I remember that the drinking age in Louisiana was 18 when my high school orchestra traveled there for a competition back in the mid '90s. I've been told that's why the roads were so crappy but I don't know if that's true.

Well, they have federal funding now and the roads are still crappy. ;) Actually, the state held out all the way to the point of refusing to bend but did cave before federal funding got pulled. I was 22 at the time and my younger brother got really screwed by this. "Sure you've been drinking for 2 years but now you can't!"

[B5SnowDog]

Well, they have federal funding now and the roads are still crappy. ;)

Ha! That they are. You can tell you've crossed the Texas-Louisiana border when you hear the ka-thunk ka-thunk ka-thunk of the highway.

[abba12]

Like I said, I don't know if they've tightened it up, but in the mid-90s when all my friends were getting married, the marriage certificate was also an exception (maybe only for women, even - thinking back they all married older dudes so maybe the exception was that your husband could stand in loco parentis for drinking purposes. Ick.)

Actually, this is a really interesting one, and you're half right to my understanding. Being married does not allow you to drink alcohol if you are underage at the time of marriage. BUT. As we have established, a lot of states allow minors to have alcohol under the supervision of their parents. Well, in actual fact you'll probably find the exact wording to be 'under the supervision of their legal guardian'. If you are a 17 year old marrying a 22 year old, for anything that you are not old enough to do yet your spouse does indeed become your legal guardian (I've known a few people who married 'with parental permission', which can happen between the ages of 16 and 18, and as far as the courts were concerned, the older party if over 18 became the guardian of the younger party for legal purposes. Gender did not come into it)

So just the same as an 18 year old in america can legally drink in their parents home, if an 18 year old is married to a 21 year old they can legally drink in the home of their spouse (their home), their spouse taking that place. They can also drink for religious purposes under the supervision of their spouse instead of their parents. So I do believe if I traveled to america with my husband who is 23, he could provide me with alcohol :D YAY!

If you're 18 and marrying another 18 year old though, you're screwed, cause neither of you can drink, AND your parents are no longer your legal guardians, and I have no idea what happens from there.

[alba]

I have to wonder, what part of "it's against the law" don't people understand. Just this week a teacher's aide in a nearby town was arrested for hosting a graduation party and serving alcohol. Oh, but it wasn't a whistle blower who ratted on her. It was 2 kids to tried to drive home, but got into an accident. Luckily, it was only a minor, and the kids weren't hurt badly. However, these kids now have a criminal record, and this teacher's aide's career is practically ruined. So, now how exactly is allowing underage drinking ok?

Against the law doesn't necessarily equal immoral. It was an irresponsible thing for the teacher's aide to be doing, because of the risk of repercussions. I would also say it's wrong if the students to whom she was serving alcohol are underage. However, if it was a university graduation and the underage students were 20, I don't think it's immoral; when I was a student our hall of residence served alcohol indiscriminately, even though some residents were 17 (and thus legally adults here) and the legal drinking age is 18.

That said, I don't see anything wrong with parents responsibly giving their children alcohol, which IS legal where I live if the child is 5 years or older.