Drinking Age - Do You Think Its Right?

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by warror135, Aug 31, 2010.

  1. warror135

    warror135 Newbie

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    hello, i have lived in Canada for the past 2 years, and before that i lived in England, And recently i went to the states, now i dont know why the drinking ages are different in all countries (actually i heard that the drinking age is only 19 in Ontario and 18 every other province) now personally i think the drinking age in the States is way too high, i think 18 should be the drinking age in every country

    what do you think the drinking age should be and if the drinking age is different in your country, is it too high or too low?
    and why do you feel that way?
     
  2. Junior

    Junior Administrator
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    I come from a land down under! (Maaaate!)
    It's 18 where I live (Australia)

    Although, they're looking at taking it up to 21 I beleive. I saw it in the news.

    I don't know.. I was responsible enough at 18 to be able to drink, however now I deal with alot of people 18 and younger than drink and become stupid, cause fights or get injured etc.

    I don't think raising the age will make a difference.. People can get it from 15 onwards usually.. if not younger. Raising it will not change a thing, except those that are responsible will have to wait longer.
     
  3. Freja

    Freja Level IV

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    Drinking age is 16 here (or 15? I honestly don't remember..)
    I don't know. In my experience, people will drink nomatter the age. And you can't drive here until you're 18, so I think it's important that people get to know the consequences of alcohol and how it affects you before they start drinking.
    But really, people can drink at all ages here, you just can't buy it until 15/16. It's not like police is going to do anything if they see somebody drinking underage, since they are allowed to do it. Stores just won't sell it to them.

    I really don't know, I don't think ages will do anything different. People will drink if they want to. And also, drinking age at 21 is just.. really high o.o; It might make it more "wanted", so that underage kids will do it just because it makes them cool?
     
  4. Clumsy

    Clumsy Level III

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    Drinking age in all of Canada is 19

    I think it is a fair age - however, I also believe if you're old enough to vote/drive you should be allowed to drink...
     
  5. PrinceErik

    PrinceErik Level IV

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    It is honestly perfect. If you lower it, what you are causing is more people to have even easier access to alcohol, which, granted, is already very easy. But honestly, I think it takes maturity to drink responsibly, so I think the extra 3 years are necessary. I know soo many people that drive drunk, and so many people who regret things they do while drunk, but still drink, and to me it just shows they arent ready to drink. I think they should enforce these laws better.
     
  6. Freja

    Freja Level IV

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    I would NEVER drive drunk. And I've been drinking since I was 12-13 o.o' And it's just now that I started being a bit more responsible. Oh god, me at 15-16 D; I don't even wanna go there. But I don't think that if the age would've been higher, I wouldn't have started. Probably only make me drink more? Because I was COOOOOOOL when I drank young. Lolz , oh those days.. D:
     
  7. Galifanakis

    Galifanakis Level I

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    It`s 18 in Alberta.

    To be honest, as much as I know that when I turn 18 in October I`ll be drinking, I hypocritically believe that it should be raised. The brain`s development in an average human stops at 21, and thus I believe that should be the drinking age. Then again, stupid people will still dirnk and do drugs long before that to stunt their development, but that`s just my two cents... I`m glad drinking age is 18 though, I want to go to a karaoke bar. :D
     
  8. Ddvw123abc

    Ddvw123abc Level I

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    I think it should be atleast 18 or higher not lower. Drinking can lead to bad things like car crashes, and death.
     
  9. powerof0

    powerof0 Level III

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    Yeah, the brain development thing is pretty much why the drinking age is so high in the States. I think it's not a bad rule, because responsible individuals will obey the law and delay their alcohol consumption until brain development has stopped. As for irresponsible individuals, there's really no stopping them no matter what the law is.
     
  10. Varren

    Varren Level I

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    I think that a drinking age being set at 21 is good, because it means that even if people start drinking early they will usually do that around 18 anyway, but when the drinking age is 18 people start drinking at 15 or 16. On the flip side, I am also the kind of person that believes that if there's a rule that you can't do something there will always be people trying to do it, whereas if you didn't have a rule then people would not feel so compelled to do it.
     
  11. warror135

    warror135 Newbie

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    a few of you here have have raised a really good point which alot of people have been debating over this about the fact that because the drinking age is higher than you actually are, makes people under-age want to drink because i guess it makes them either more adult or more cool, maybe this will eventually be tested in some countries to see if it works, i know that it has in some coutries compared to others

    oh is it? sorry dude i didnt know lol ive only been to ontario in canada, is it 18 in Quebec though? i heard from alot of people thats true
     
  12. Ddvw123abc

    Ddvw123abc Level I

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    A bunch of kids at my tiny highschool drink good thing they don't get caught or they would be kicked off the sports teams which Is our towns main thing
     
  13. Galifanakis

    Galifanakis Level I

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    No, they are generalizing. Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec are all 18, the rest of the provinces are 19.
     
  14. dreamlorde

    dreamlorde Level III

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    Jesus... look at the country now... do we really need to make Americans drunker younger? o_O

    But listen, I've said this before - Americans have an unparalleled capacity for abuse. Whatever is invented, imagined, or enacted, they will take it five levels farther than was intended and STILL ask for more. That's the biggest problem with laws and lawmakers here. At best they only ever consider the immediate effects or consequences of their decisions when they need to view the public as a chess opponent and look ten steps ahead.
    So, to answer your question, while I'm sure that scads of Americans would simply love the drinking age to be lowered, for many reasons it would be an extremely bad call.
     
  15. FastBullet

    FastBullet Level IV

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    Here the drinking age is 18,same as driving age too.

    but most humans here know the drinks at the age of 12-14 XD

    I personally don't drink but i've seen groups of children here stackin' up their cash and buying something big that get all of them super drunk. :yup:

    "Oh, I'm just a social drinker. Every time someone says, 'I'll have a drink', I say, 'So shall I'!"
    - copyright WoW gnome joke :tehe:

    So yeah I think it's right to start at 16 and stop at 18 because drinking addiction is one of the worse addictions eva' :maha:
     
  16. powerof0

    powerof0 Level III

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    How did they get the alcohol anyway? I thought stores are not allowed to sell it to children.
     
  17. Kangaroos

    Kangaroos Level III

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    I'm sure they have siblings/friends who are willing to get them the alcohol. I know that's how it works here... You just find someone who is 21+ in your dorm section and he's the one that goes to the store to buy all the alcohol. But, honestly, if we change the alcohol drinking age to 18, then more and more 14-17 year olds will drink. Kids will always want what they're not allowed to have.
     
  18. dochack

    dochack Level II

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    In Da U.P. Eh
    I live In the states and I think It should be lower. Why have to wait till im 21? I can drive when I'm 16, smoke/chew at 18, vote, and join the army if needed but I can't drink till 21..... o_O
     
  19. Drumstick

    Drumstick Level III

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    That's not only true for kids; everyone wants what they can't have. It's really easy to get alcohol if you're underaged though. And then fake IDs are possible too, as well as just older people.

    Honestly I think the drinking age of 18-19 like it is in Canada is good. You can get through all the excitement of being legal drinking age during university/college, so that when you get into real life you have moved on.
     
  20. powerof0

    powerof0 Level III

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    When do kids start to drink in Europe? Since their drinking age is a lot lower, does that mean the kids start drinking at a younger age as well? If so, the US probably shouldn't lower the drinking age because teenagers already crash enough cars...