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**devonin** · 11-2-2007, 07:00 PM

You are, of course, talking about the legal ages in the United States here, since the ages vary from country to country, especially as regards drinking.

While I agree that it is ridiculous for the drinking age in the United States to be 21 when voting and military service among other things are keyed to 18, but I can definately see and understand the need to set legal limits on activities that are known to have negative consequences.

If you want to play the "The day before I turn 18 and the day I turn 18 aren't any different" game, you can logic all age restrictions out of existance, and yet I imagine we could all agree that seven year olds should not have unrestricted access to alcohol and tobacco.

The problem is that legislators are forced, in the general interest of the public good, to set an arbitrary age by which "The majority" of people "should" have the necessary education and maturity to make a reasoned decision about these things. While there are obviously exceptions (And everyone under 18 who wants to drink and smoke thinks they are an exception, when really very few of them are) the age of 18 has been viewed as the age of majority, enfranchisement, and adulthood for so long, that it is a benchmark age for most limits.

11-2-2007, 07:00 PM	#2
devonin Very Grave Indeed Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Ontario, Canada Age: 42 Posts: 10,120	Re: Smoking and Drinking Ages - Pointless? You are, of course, talking about the legal ages in the United States here, since the ages vary from country to country, especially as regards drinking. While I agree that it is ridiculous for the drinking age in the United States to be 21 when voting and military service among other things are keyed to 18, but I can definately see and understand the need to set legal limits on activities that are known to have negative consequences. If you want to play the "The day before I turn 18 and the day I turn 18 aren't any different" game, you can logic all age restrictions out of existance, and yet I imagine we could all agree that seven year olds should not have unrestricted access to alcohol and tobacco. The problem is that legislators are forced, in the general interest of the public good, to set an arbitrary age by which "The majority" of people "should" have the necessary education and maturity to make a reasoned decision about these things. While there are obviously exceptions (And everyone under 18 who wants to drink and smoke thinks they are an exception, when really very few of them are) the age of 18 has been viewed as the age of majority, enfranchisement, and adulthood for so long, that it is a benchmark age for most limits.