NationStates Jolt Archive

What's worse, lung cancer or a disintegrating liver? Well, for someone to smoke, you have to be 18 in the US, and for someone to drink, you have to be 21. Now, people can argue that alcohol is linked to shootings and car accidents which is more fatal than a slowly failing liver, which only shortens your life a few years than a shooting or a fatal car accident that shortens your life a bunch of years. Then again, smoking causes second hand smoke, which is more fatal than first hand smoking. Second hand smoke can start at a tender age, like one years old, when a parent smokes around a child or when they live in a community full of smokers. Then there are those lunatics that argue smoking can cause global warming, yeah, sure it helps cause it but less than how cars, factories without filters and wild fires contribute to problem. What am I saying here? Well, my question is, what is your stance in the drinking age problem, should it be lowered or should the smoking age be raised and why?

should age even be a factor in the right of anyone to kill themselves if they can do so without taking anyone else with them?

I propose an all in one age, 20. At age 20 you can vote, drink, look at porn, smoke, join the military, and drive. Then, maybe then, we can stop having threads about this!

Age doesn't really matter, teenagers can smoke and drink whenever they want as long as they can get some fool to get "the goods." My curiosity about other people's perspective on the subject drove me to post this question.

Age doesn't really matter, teenagers can smoke and drink whenever they want as long as they can get some fool to get "the goods." My curiosity about other people's perspective on the subject drove me to post this question.
Then what, exactly, is your question? should we have a drinking age? Should we not? Where should it be set?

I propose an all in one age, 20. At age 20 you can vote, drink, look at porn, smoke, join the military, and drive. Then, maybe then, we can stop having threads about this!

no. not as long as age based discrimination is enshrined in law, will there ever not be motivation for threads such as this.

in most of america it's pretty much 21 for just about everything, though its been as young as 17 here, some years and in some states.

in ancient times, in many religeons and cultures, the age of 15 was common/standard. though some may argue life was on average somewhat shorter as well itself.

any absolute chronological age picked is going to be pretty much arbitrary.

is everyone under the age of 40 really 'grown up' enough? or 60? or 100?

no. any age you pick there's going to be problems with. i'll agree though that different ages for different things compounds the problem.

I propose an all in one age, 20. At age 20 you can vote, drink, look at porn, smoke, join the military, and drive. Then, maybe then, we can stop having threads about this!

It's age 18 here for almost everything, with some notable exceptions, like getting C and D driving licenses (three years with B license, hence age 21 minimum), running for the Camera dei Deputati (age 25), the Senate (age 25 to vote, 40 to run), and becoming President of the Republic (age 50).

Sadly there's no age limit for the Internet.

I propose an all in one age, 20. At age 20 you can vote, drink, look at porn, smoke, join the military, and drive. Then, maybe then, we can stop having threads about this!

Don't forget getting married without parental permission (it's ludicrous - in some states and 18 year old girl can marry without permission, but a guy has to be 21, in fact, the legal age of consent varies wildly from state to state). Just make 20 the age of consent for everyone.

Then there's also the legal ability to enter into (non-marital) contracts.

Don't forget getting married without parental permission (it's ludicrous - in some states and 18 year old girl can marry without permission, but a guy has to be 21, in fact, the legal age of consent varies wildly from state to state). Just make 20 the age of consent for everyone.

Then there's also the legal ability to enter into (non-marital) contracts.
Works for me. Hence forth EVERYTHING, including being President of the United States, can happen at age 20. Before, that, forget it.

Well, my question is, what is your stance in the drinking age problem, should it be lowered or should the smoking age be raised and why?

You wouldn't want me as President then. If I had my way, the drinking age would be 23, not 21 with much stricter punishments on those who provide it to people who are under 23. (This would keep it off of most college campuses and require our students to actually study and learn that having fun doesn't REQUIRE alcohol.) As far as the drinking age is concerned, I feel that college students are far more irresponsible with alcohol then high school students who drink since the high school kids have to come home and face their parents, while the college kids more likely do not. If not 23, then I would have an 18 year old limit. Having the limit be 21 has never made sense to me.

Oh and yeah, the same limit would apply to smoking.

Don't come to Secristan. ;)

They already raised the smoking age from 16 to 18.

Drinking age for beer is 16, hard liquor is 18.

It's okay the way it is. Then again, I'm 32, so who's to stop me?

18. But they should raise getting a licence to age 18 as well.

18. But they should raise getting a licence to age 18 as well.
Already have over here for cars.

I propose an all in one age, 20. At age 20 you can vote, drink, look at porn, smoke, join the military, and drive. Then, maybe then, we can stop having threads about this!

No, there'll still be threads about lowering it, or raising it, or making it a function of pubic hair density.

Then again, smoking causes second hand smoke, which is more fatal than first hand smoking.
This is actually lies and foreign propaganda. Until cigarettes start putting out an equally concentrated batch of smoke out of the other end to the general public (and they won't) it's far, far less dangerous.

In the UK we have the smoking and drinking ages at (basically) eighteen, I suppose that's a decent age.