Search Results: should the legal drinking age be 18

I remember being a teenager, and just DYING to turn 21. At around 18, I vehemently disliked that the drinking age is 21. I thought to myself, "how are you gonna tell me that I am a legal adult, BUT I can't buy a beer? WTF kind of bullshit is that? Now, I am approaching 35 years old, and my perspective has flipped 180 degrees. Not only do fully understand why someone would want the drinking age 21+, I am actually leaning towards advocating for it to be even older. 18 year olds should not be allowed to legally drink. Period. A 21 year old is honestly not much better. I consider them in the same age group. I see the way people in their early 20's behave all the time, and I am just like, wow... it's ridiculous that we allow people this age range to have access to liquor. I'm sorry, but 18-21 is a KID, and no one will ever convince me otherwise.

This question may be controversial, so I want to preface it by making abundantly clear that I do NOT condone or excuse any form of child abuse. This is a thought experiment regarding hard limits to protect the well-being of everyone involved in sexual activity, but social norms would still apply, and they would likely continue to be more effective than any law at regulating this behavior. That said, let's begin.

In the U. S., the age at which a person can consent to sexual activity is typically between 16 and 18 years old, and various nations across the globe stray even further from this range. Assuming there is a "correct" age of consent, this discrepancy must mean at least one of three things:

1. some places set the age too low, leaving naive children vulnerable to abuse;
2. some places set it too high, prosecuting people who are effectively innocent; and/or
3. the same act between the same two people can magically become more or less ethical depending on geographical borders.

Option 3 seems a bit unlikely, meaning that either 1 or 2 is true (if not both), either of which has very real and harmful impacts.

In order to address this issue, many jurisdictions make an exception for minors and adults close in age, known as "Romeo and Juliet law" — such a law allows, for example, a 19yo and a 17yo to have intimate relations without consequences even if the age of consent is 18.

Still, 18 is a pretty arbitrary age to use for defining adulthood or any of the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that come with, as is 16, and 21, too (the legal drinking age).

Objectively speaking, it makes more sense to either lower the age to about 13, when most people hit puberty, or raise it to 25, when the brain is fully developed.

Another solution is to measure the ages relative to each other, as in the widely used formula for what's socially acceptable — half your age, plus 7 (14 & 14, 20 & 17, 30 & 22, etc. would be okay).

So, what do you think it should be, and why?

I think we should, I also think people should be able to have recreational marijuana and firearms at 18 too, and here's my argument:

I think if you're able to cast a ballot, you should be able to purchase, carry and consume whatever legal thing you want. I never understood why at 18 you can take part in the country's political system but you can't have a beer and exercise your 2nd Amendment right. So either lower the drinking age to 18 or raise the voting age to 21, I've already picked my side.

Legal drinking age varies from a country to another. In the US it's 21 in Egypt it's 18 and in Germany it's 16. I don't know why it's illegal for me to drink alchohol. Doesn't mean I don't drink toug... I don't really care that much since I don't like drinking a lot of alchohol, not really into being a drunkard since one of my relatives died that way. But... for example I was in a wedding yesterday, my dad is drinking whiskey, the groom is already drunk, some of our friends are also drunk and I can't drink, but It would have been way better if I did considering this is a long night

If you're old enough to die for your country, you should be old enough to have a beer legally.

All 50 US states have set their minimum drinking age to 21 although exceptions do exist on a state-by-state basis for consumption at home, under adult supervision, for medical necessity, and other reasons. (Although most states have kept it at 21 to get federal transportation funds since 1984.)

-Proponents of lowering the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) from 21 argue that it has not stopped teen drinking, and has instead pushed underage binge drinking into private and less controlled environments, leading to more health and life-endangering behavior by teens.

-Opponents of lowering the MLDA argue that teens have not yet reached an age where they can handle alcohol responsibly, and thus are more likely to harm or even kill themselves and others by drinking prior to 21. They contend that traffic fatalities decreased when the MLDA increased.

What's your opinion?