Drinkin' Age (legally that is)

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Here in Finland, it's 18 for beer & other mild stuff and 20 for anything more than 22 proof.

Cardin isn't really that struict and it is notr unusual for people to statrt drinking around 12 years of age or so. Some younger, some older.

And yes, we Finns drink too much.

 

danes drink more...

 

Swedes drink the most.

 

I wouldn't know, I didn't grow up in another country so I can't compare

I do believe however that one growing up with alcohol will be less likely to go off on a I'm finally free to drink whatever I want! Let's get off on a drunken rampage and drink till I need hospitalization! spree as I've understood a lot of american college kids do.

 

Danes and sweded? Bah! We can drink you under the table any day of the week!

 

Sadly, this is all too true. Although the drinking sprees usually start before you're 21. Really, once your past 18 you are legally an adult in every other sense. You go to parties where alcohol is served, and also anyone who goes to a college or university usually has easy access to alcohol at the parties on the weekends.

It's really dumb when you think about it. With college lasting 4 years for a typical undergraduate degree, the average age of the students is 18-22. With half of the student body old enough to legally purchase and drink alcoholic beverages, it is the height of naivety to think the older students wouldn't share with the younger ones. Especially with fraternity boys trying to get a piece from the underaged females at the parties.

To me 18 makes the most sense. That's when you're old enough to vote, are considered legally to be an adult, and the age at which you are old enough to join the military. IMO, if you're old enough to die for your country, you should be old enough to buy yourself a beer.

 

the swedish drink most and a lot "hembränt" (homemade?) thats why we are so focking stupid.

 

We get lots of Swedes and Norweigens over here and they can definately keep up with the locals!

The drinks are less expensive here so they like to indulge, just like the locals.

 

We have this in New Zealand. The problem is that the 18 year olds end up giving drinks to 16 year olds.

 

21 in the US is ridiculous...But then again, if we had a lower drinking age, it wouldn't have been as fun trying to score beer in high school!!!

 

Aldeth, I think you should be grateful that the American kids in general wait that long with their drinking. The description of what goes on at college with 18-22 year olds remind me more of my 15-18 years than what I did when I 18-22. I know that many Swedes are kinda surprised when they go the states to study and see how, well, might not be the right word but I will use it anyway, immature the 20 year olds handle the booze. There actually doesnt seem to be much of a drinking culture in the US for people below the age of 18 and that is something you should happy with even if it makes you appear kinda dorkish to cool foreigners.

We here in strict Sweden generally start drinking ourselves senseless at the age of 15 on bootleg beer and booze and moonshine.

 

Yeah. When I got 18 (legal age here), alcohol lost lots of its appeal. Had to rediscover it.

 

*grin* Well, as mentioned, it's 16 for beer and such and 18 for 'hard liquor' although I'm not sure where, exactly, the limit lies. I think I'll drink more when I hit 16 (15 now) cos then I'll be able to go the shoppe and get booze... Dunno if I could get some now already, I never get any hassle when I'm buying smokes, but hey - it's not that big a thing, although it'll be nice to go and get wasted in front of my PC on weekend nights

 

@joacqin
I can say that, after going through my first year of high school (roughly ages 14-18) in the United States, to say that there was no alcohol abuse by the students is laughable. There are so many parties with alcohol at them and other illegal substances that many people both my age and older are disturbed.

In China, of course, there is no drinking age. However, I am a rather strange person and I have only had a small glass of wine. I personally do not like alcohol beverages that much and it makes things difficult sometimes. My father orders a bottle of beer fairly often and the waiter/waitress often tries to pour me a glass without asking me whether I want it or not. It is a very different culture.

 

18 over here, but most of us start at 13, I think its just a way to keep the kids out of the pubs and clubs!

Was in the states on holiday when I was 15, took lots of drinks round my cousins and her mum went maaaad, Im talking fists and screaming... the lot! But all of her mates followed me back to my uncles (like they never saw booze before) and we all got mashed, happy holidays!

 

My step-father got me wasted when I was 10. I didn't drink at all after that until I was 21, so the age limit in the US wasn't a big deal to me.

I am most disturbed by the current trend in the US where parents are being arrested for allowing their children to drink -- if a parent wants to allow their child a drink it should be fine (although I beleive my SF went too far).

The high drinking age in the US is primarily because we believe driving a vehicle is a right. Physical impairment is not a reason to deny a driver's license -- we have people who can't see 100 feet in from of them driving down the road at 75 mph (120 kph). That same lack of reasoning is used by drunks -- they believe it's their right to drive no matter how much alcohol is consumed. The number of deaths due to drunk drivers goes down as the drinking age goes up.

Yet another knee jerk reaction in the US -- raise drinking ages rather than hold drunks responsible for their actions....

 

Punish drunk drivers and stay away from parents who give children drinks. A glass of wine is a normal part of a dinner and there's no reason to bar a teenager from it. Same goes for beer. Maybe liquers and medium stuff as well. After all, you drink those socially, not to get drunk. Plain old boozing is a different thing and shouldn't be open to teens, as a rule.

And drivers who pose a high risk for other drivers should not be drivers.

 

I agree fully

 

Drinking age is 21 here... I started about 6 years early tho =/ dont do it often tho which is more than most of my friends can say

 

16 for beer and tobacco, 18 for everything else. We're experimenting with drivers licenses at the age of 17 right now.