Minimum Drinking Ages

Neon Knight Fri 23 Feb - 0:32

It's interesting that some countries distinguish between beer/wine and spirits.

Sary Thu 7 Mar - 11:35

16 is a little too young to be buying alcohol in my opinion but if kids want to drink they will always find a way.
When I was a kid in the 1970s the drinking age and voting were both lowered to 18, it didn’t seem right that the military was drafting 18 year olds to fight and die over in Vietnam but they had no say in elections or the right to consume liquor.
So the 26 Amendment was drafted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._history_of_alcohol_minimum_purchase_age_by_state
Then in the 1980s, I guess because of so many deaths from drunk driving they started eeking it back up to 21. In my state first to 19 then to 20 and finally back to 21.
Every year I missed it by just a couple of months, it was really quite comical.

Now a days it is a different world, cannabis is now legal and there are billboards, radio advertisements and dispensaries everywhere. When you are out and about in crowds you can smell it and see stoners no longer hiding it. The state is making a lot of money.
It is such a change from even 10 years ago when pot was illegal and you could be arrested for having even a small amount.

Neon Knight Sat 16 Mar - 2:55

I was about 17-and-a-half when I first had a drink in a pub (public house). I think 18 is about the right minimum age. America has a quirky mix of liberal and puritannical attitudes (I'd much rather an 18 year old be able to drink than own a gun). Mostly, I think it's a matter of personality whether someone becomes a heavy drinker or not. I only ever got proper drunk a few times in my teens and 20s and I can take it or leave it.

Sary Fri 22 Mar - 0:41

There were always bars that would let underage get in back then. I was young and cute, looked older than my age so I could sometimes pass.
The first time I remember going to a bar I was maybe 16 and went with my best friend’s older brother. I was already drunk when we got there and the next thing I know I am up on stage with the band, a tambourine in my hand singing back up to Bad Case of Loving You. It must of been really bad . . . I think they kicked us out and the next day I had black and blue marks from banging the tambourine on my leg!
I used to cringe when I heard that song, now it just makes me smile..
It seems so long ago.
Have you ever done anything crazy stupid like that?

Neon Knight Sat 30 Mar - 21:12

On my 22nd birthday in our student house I got very drunk on a big bottle of whisky I'd bought myself and let off a fire extinguisher at one point. I felt rather ill the next day and couldn't do much.

Sary Mon 8 Apr - 19:17

I am certainly not able to drink the way I use to. It just isn’t worth the hangover I would have the next morning. Heck I can’t even eat a heavy meal too late in the evening or I will not sleep well and feel sick to my stomach.
There probably should be a maximum drinking age too seeing that the elderly do not metabolize alcohol as efficiently and often have diminished hearing , eye sight and balance problems. A fall can be fatal for an old person.
I suppose that like everything else, moderation is the key to enjoying life. I read about the oldest man in the world who recently passed at 115 years old and one of the things that he attributed to his long life to was drinking a glass of hard liquor every day. No doubt it was a small glass.

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