Drinking age laws

[BigRedBuster]

I've had opinions about this for a long time but something happened this weekend that blew me away.

 

First, I want to say, I am not for promoting teenage drinking. I personally have experienced the negatives and tell kids to this day to be very careful.

 

That said, our laws are screwed up and they are getting worse.

 

When I was I high school, we would go out and party. Grab a case and head for someone's house or a pasture.

 

When I was in college, it was way overboard. I was the stereotypical drunk college kid....times 10.

 

Once I hit 21, I still drank but it was different. I didn't go get hammered nearly as often. Now, I'm the typical middle aged social drinker.

 

In highschool, we had an exchange student from Brazil, she never could understand why we drank. In Brazil there were no drinking age laws and kids there just didn't find it fun.

 

Now.....fast forward to this weekend, I'm in Kansas City with the family at my sons basketball tournament, after a long day of hoops, we parents wanted to go back to the hotel and chill with a few beers. So, on the way, we stopped at a Walmart and bought some stuff....and some beer.

 

Checking out, the guy says he needs an ID from everyone in the group (wife and two kids 17,20). I was confused. When he found out they were my kids, he then allowed me to buy it.

 

So, if I were to be with say a twenty year old kid not mine while buying beer (no evidence he was even going to drink it)....the cashier, store, and I would be subject to a huge fine.

 

What a load of BS.

 

He told me one time a guy came through with minors, tried buying beer, was turned away....left, came back a half hour later alone and was still turned away because the store had seen him with minors earlier.

 

Unbelievable that this is where we are at.

[commando]

if you have ever been at a scene where a car load of drunk kids was involved in an accident you would want to do anything possible to prevent it from happening to any other kids.

[zoogs]

I view drinking as a cultural more than a legal problem.

As far as laws go and creating criminals where it's unnecessary, I think marijuana laws are a far greater culprit.

I don't think removing the law itself is going to fix our fixation with alcohol. Perhaps I'm wrong.

[teachercd]

Yep...I had this happen at Wal-Mart and it was me and a 30 year old. Thought it was odd too.

 

My brother in law is from a small village in Romania...he said there were/are basically no drinking ages...He did say getting into the clubs you had to be 16. He said the big difference is no one there really drives and getting drunk is not as big of a deal because you can drink early.

[BigRedBuster]

if you have ever been at a scene where a car load of drunk kids was involved in an accident you would want to do anything possible to prevent it from happening to any other kids.

Just stop.

 

I know plenty of people who have been affected by that exact situation.

[commando]

 

if you have ever been at a scene where a car load of drunk kids was involved in an accident you would want to do anything possible to prevent it from happening to any other kids.

Just stop.

 

I know plenty of people who have been affected by that exact situation.

 

just stop? really?

[Enhance]

This is a fairly common practice. I worked at a Walgreens part time in high school/college and we were trained to do similar things. It might seem odd and culturally distressing, but it does help limit alcohol sales to minors.

 

Our society props alcohol up on a pedestal, though. And, if I'm not mistaken, the push to move the drinking age to 21 also meant states that refused to could lose a serious chunk of federal highway funding. Money talks.

[deedsker]

My brother in law is from a small village in Romania...he said there were/are basically no drinking ages...He did say getting into the clubs you had to be 16. He said the big difference is no one there really drives and getting drunk is not as big of a deal because you can drink early.

This.

 

Another reason we have way different problems than other countries is our obsession with cars.

[wutthewut]

The drinking age question is difficult mostly because a lack of data on what the event would be if the drinking age is changed. My personal opinion is that as an 18 year old you are legally considered an adult in our country. 18 year olds can go to eat and should be able to buy alcohol if they choose.

 

The biggest issue with that is that you'd have high school seniors of drinking age, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to move it to 19 instead.

[mrandyk]

One Thanksgiving when I was 21 my parents sent me to Wal-Mart to buy another bottle of wine for everyone. I brought my then 8 year old brother with me and they refused to sell me that bottle of wine because I had a minor with me. Yeah, I'm buying alcohol for this 3rd grader...Really dumb policy. No one is getting fined though. Went to Hy-Vee instead and had no issues.

[Moiraine]

 

 

 

if you have ever been at a scene where a car load of drunk kids was involved in an accident you would want to do anything possible to prevent it from happening to any other kids.

Just stop.

 

I know plenty of people who have been affected by that exact situation.

just stop? really?

I'm kinda getting his reaction. You made it sound like you thought anyone who thought the legal age should be reduced/removed just doesn't understand and couldn't possibly have known anyone who died from it and their opinion doesn't matter.

 

My uncle died at 18 due to his friend being a drunk driver, but I think the drinking age should be lowered. It's 17 in the UK. Kids drink because it's an "adult" thing to do that isn't allowed. I think lowering it would reduce under age drinking.

[funhusker]

It's a Walmart store policy and it is dumb. I can understand training a cashier for things to look for, like a 21 year old with a bunch of 20 year olds buying a cart full of beer. But I was turned away from buying a six-pack with other groceries because my wife didn't have her ID on her, and our kids were with us. It was a manager who came to swipe the beer and I asked her and her response was "our policy says we can't sell to customers who have minors with them." She couldn't really defend herself when I told that just a few days earlier she swiped beer for me when I had my kids with me (probably 5 or 6 at the time). I just left her with joking comment about how it's okay to sell to kindergarteners but not tired moms....

 

I've been turned down AND allowed since, it is a hit or miss policy. But I at least try; it is much handier to just buy the beer along with whatever groceries I need.

[JJ Husker]

I think the lesson here is to not but beer at WalMart. Seems to me they are trying to write their own moral code into liquor laws. IMO, it is not the stores responsibility to guess what you might do with your purchase. If you're of legal age and you're the one purchasing it, that should be the end of it. I've never encountered this problem and it would piss me off if I did. Of course I buy my alcohol at a liquor store and not discount or grocery stores.

[Pedro Guerrero]

Some stores make you show ID for cans of whipped cream or spray paint or air duster. I find it a bit silly but I understand it (just like showing ID for liquor when minors are with you).

[BigRedBuster]

 

 

if you have ever been at a scene where a car load of drunk kids was involved in an accident you would want to do anything possible to prevent it from happening to any other kids.

Just stop.

 

I know plenty of people who have been affected by that exact situation.

 

just stop? really?

 

My early life was very negatively affected by alcohol abuse. I flunked out of college to begin with. I have had at least 2 friends die in car accidents where alcohol was a factor. I know countless other people who have been affected the same way. I don't take teenage drinking lightly and I have been very open with my own kids about my early problems and that is a big reason why they don't drink as teenagers now.

 

This is NOT me thinking teenage drinking is no big deal.

 

Last fall, my wife and I were in Germany. We asked a waiter what the drinking age laws were there. He said, they really don't have many. Simply put, you have to be with your parents in public to drink under 18. If you are at home, there are no laws against it. He said..."look, how many young kids do you see here at the bars? How many drunk idiots do you see roaming around?" Answer....there were none.