TBH it doesn't matter to me. The bartenders etc don't really care about the age, just the money that they stand to make.
Untrue. Bars can be shut down if they have minors in their bar. They DO NOT risk such things or else they risk losing their ENTIRE business. That means loss of money.
In a theoretical world where everyone was 100% rational, that would hold water. In the real world, people do all sorts of crazy s--- that's bad for them. Smarter bartenders/owners follow the law & I've seen it. I've also seen a lot of the other type too, though.
IMO, 16-18 is a reasonable age. I just turned 18, but i have been drinking since i was 15-16. It may just be my nature, but i don't turn into a complete asshole when i drink. Usually i just get more funny and make people laugh more.. As Freja said, people who are younger think its "Cool" to break laws/drink and smoke underage.... the same issue is with many drugs. look at marijuana as an example. Amsterdam doesn't have any laws preventing people from smoking Marijuana, and they have the LEAST problems with it... then you look at every other country and there are a LOT of issues about it... the only reason its so profitable for people is because its ILLEGAL in most places. I think people should have to take a maturity test of some kind before they can drink or something... Its not the age factor, its the maturity that kills people who drink.
I'd have to agree Galifanakis. I've never seen any bars that would knowingly allow underage drinking. If you look underage, they will definitely check... But I haven't been to that many bars, since I'm not a big fan of how alcohol tastes, so who knows.
18 or 21, it's not like the punishment is really all that harsh, a slap on the hand? On something this harmless, I don't think a drinking age should really be used. But I think restrictions should be used for school hours, wouldn't really be good if students were drunk during class times.
I think that changing the drinking age wouldn't make much difference. People will always find ways around the law, like asking a friend to buy or whatever... I've already seen parents giving beer to a 4 year old! They said it was just for him to taste it, because he was curious... In my opinion, if you want to stop young people from drinking, you should reinforce fiscalization, really punish those who are caught and have a great campaing against underage drinking...
Drinking age at our country is 18, it's ok because you should be responsible at that age right.. but recently the people i see drinking are younger than 18.. their age is around 15-16.. so actualy the drinking age doesn't matter that much anymore, because the authorities don't seem to mind that also young people are drinking and the young always, i mean really always find a way to get a drink, even if they don't get one by themselves.. that's actualy very sad..
I think the current age is fine for buying alcohol but most people just tend to get older mates to get it for them anyways. They should only allow someone under 18 to drink if they are having a meal with a family member
Where i live the drinking age is 18 which i think is a really good age, 16 is too young, 21 just seems ridicilous to me but maybe if i'd always thought it was going to be that it wouldnt, but yeah 18 just seems like the right age for me.
I think you shouldn't really forbid someone over the age of 18 to drink. I mean, you're an adult now, you should be able to take at least a little responsibility.
in singapoe, drinking age is 18. It is ok here in singapore but not in other countries. I happen to walk around in aussie at 6 and i found a drunkard man trying to pick a fight with someone who was trying to water his plants. Though 18 is the law, many teenagers still drink beer secretly.
I think most current drinking ages are appropriate.. but in general the age should be determined by society -> what is the age of a responsible individual?
I don't know, maybe 19 is a good age, because most are out of high school by then, and at that point, you start to think more responsibly about your future.
I think there is no "right drinking age" after all. Most People start late to drink, when they are stressed in their job or something...and its allways the same, getting addicted to alkohol at the age of 40~
I think people should have to get a drinking license... they were tested at a certain blood/alchohol content with written/oral and road tests
I live in the US where it's 21...when my parents were younger it was 18 for a while, and I think that's a better age. Your average 18 year old drinks anyway, and I think part of the enjoyment is that it's ~illegal~. I mean, my family is as straight-edge as they come, but they've been letting me drink (that they know of haha) since I was 18. It's all about being mature enough to make the right decisions.