So I turned 21 today...

[Cheetah]

Oh yeah I forgot about that car insurance thing going down...that is going to be super exciting in a couple weeks.

Happy B-Day Dom. I actually just never started drinking haha.

[Archael]

I'm finally 21 and "legal" (in the U.S. anyway).

I should feel happy. But instead of feeling excited, now I'm just a little down for being a year older. At least I have good plans for today.

So how was your 1st birthday at the legal age?.

Exactly the same as yours, not exciting at all

as you know I was born in Puerto Rico, and kids here start getting used to alcohol as early as 15 and 16 yrs of age

we never go through the whole "college rush" of getting as hammered as possible every weekend as soon as we turn 18/19 and go to college

so turning 21 simply meant being able to drink legally when I happen to be in the USA

which is cool I guess, but no real biggie..

IMO USA drinking age should be 18, you guys would avoid tons of drinking issues if children there started learning / respecting alcohol from a way earlier age

[beawulfx]

Yeah, 21 is a ridiculous age in my opinion. I don't even drink anymore but I think if you are old enough to vote, drive, etc, then you are old enough to purchase your own alcohol. It should be 18/19 at the latest.

[philsov]

IMO USA drinking age should be 18, you guys would avoid tons of drinking issues if children there started learning / respecting alcohol from a way earlier age

But the reality of the situation is that through either school or sports or some sort of social activity, it's very likely to know someone 21 when you're 18 or 15 when you're 18.  (Or steal from parents etc.)  So really the effective age for easy access to many goods is lower than what legislation states.

I do agree about the learning/respecting thing, but that's more a social/societal/parental issue than a legislative one.  If the drinking age were reduced to 18 the "college rush" would become the "high school rush" and it'd be tweedledum to tweedledee.

[DarthPaul]

The interesting part of the law is as Phil stated all in the parental control. What I mean is that as long as a child's parent gives their consent they can drink at whatever age they want. Of course if they are too young child's services will get involved but that is only to be expected. I have been drinking since 15(not binge just casual), why, because my parents wanted me used to alcohol by the time I got into the real world. 21 is way to late of an age because if you went to cc then you are now in you own apartment/house with a respectable job (and a child's mentality), and you have just been given legal recognition to start piling them on. This is not very productive and leads to people ruining their life, pretty much as it starts.

I think that there should be legislation in the works that allows 18 year old or even 16 year old to buy alcohol (and consume it) in small amount. Like say a bottle of beer. Though then you would have to crack down on minors being caught too drunk for comfort.

[Neuromancer]

........what's the difference between a biological and chronological age?

Not all people age equally . Some people look (and actually are, metabolically-wise) a lot younger than what their ID number says, and viceversa.

In some people the natural aging process is delayed by several factors, and the same is true for the opposite.

[Archael]

I have been drinking since 15(not binge just casual), why, because my parents wanted me used to alcohol by the time I got into the real world. 21 is way to late of an age because if you went to cc then you are now in you own apartment/house with a respectable job (and a child's mentality), and you have just been given legal recognition to start piling them on. This is not very productive and leads to people ruining their life, pretty much as it starts.

I think that there should be legislation in the works that allows 18 year old or even 16 year old to buy alcohol (and consume it) in small amount. Like say a bottle of beer. Though then you would have to crack down on minors being caught too drunk for comfort.

^ this

[Dominic NY18]

........what's the difference between a biological and chronological age?

Not all people age equally . Some people look (and actually are, metabolically-wise) a lot younger than what their ID number says, and viceversa.

In some people the natural aging process is delayed by several factors, and the same is true for the opposite.

I'm not worried about my biological age. Everyone tells me I could pass for a 17 year old.

The interesting part of the law is as Phil stated all in the parental control. What I mean is that as long as a child's parent gives their consent they can drink at whatever age they want. Of course if they are too young child's services will get involved but that is only to be expected. I have been drinking since 15(not binge just casual), why, because my parents wanted me used to alcohol by the time I got into the real world. 21 is way to late of an age because if you went to cc then you are now in you own apartment/house with a respectable job (and a child's mentality), and you have just been given legal recognition to start piling them on. This is not very productive and leads to people ruining their life, pretty much as it starts.

I think that there should be legislation in the works that allows 18 year old or even 16 year old to buy alcohol (and consume it) in small amount. Like say a bottle of beer. Though then you would have to crack down on minors being caught too drunk for comfort.

I agree about the minimum drinking age being lowered to 18. It would be interesting to see how it would happen though, considering how it got to where it is now. The somewhat screwy part about the minimum drinking age is that before 1984, the minimum age varied from state to state. But since the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed, any state that didn't prohibit the sale to or public possession of alcohol by folks under the age of 21 can lose some of their federal highway funding. Don't know why highway funding of all things was involved, but then again, political things have been done in stranger ways.

Regardless of it all, I definitely wouldn't want to drink outside of social occasions.

[Kaijyuu]

Personally, I think the legal drinking age should be a few years below the driving age. (maybe 18 and 20 [I very much think that 16 is far too young to give people a driver's license])

[Samuraiblackbelt]

Personally, I think the legal drinking age should be a few years below the driving age. (maybe 18 and 20 [I very much think that 16 is far too young to give people a driver's license])

but in this day and age you really need to be able to drive at a younger age

[DarthPaul]

I think the driving age needs to stay where it is because at the age of 16I had a job(Too far away to walk/ride bike).


Also if you are old enough to pay taxes you should be allowed to drink to take away the pain from the kick in the balls that is paying said taxes.

I had to pay taxes this year.........430 bucks......I didn't have a real job year......what the fuck.....any money I made was under the table.....I need a beer now.....

[Kaijyuu]

I think the driving age needs to stay where it is because at the age of 16I had a job(Too far away to walk/ride bike).

Public transportation.


If your city/town doesn't have a good system, then iI understand it's a significant problem. It'd be a good excuse though to force places to improve their public transportation rather than building more highways, though...

[DarthPaul]

We have very good public transportation. Problem is I live about 6 miles from a buss stop.

Which on a funny coincidence was within 100 feet of my place of employment.

[Kuraudo Sutoraifu]

I was 17 before I got my license.  I don't see a need to have a lowered age to get it, as you can get a learner's permit at fifteen and the earliest legal working age is 14 (at least in Missouri).

[Samuraiblackbelt]

I could really use a job,and I live 20 miles from town,and so when I turn 16 I can get a job,if they raised the driving age any higher I would never have any money

plus there's no public transportation out here (but there IS high speed internet   )