I always wondered this. You can legally smoke and vote at 18 so why is alcohol banned until you're 21? Its 19 in Canada. Does 2 or 3 years really make that much of a difference? I know most of us have drank even before the legal age so lets discuss this from the legal stand point.

 

studies have shown that the brain cant deal with alcohol consumption safely when you are 18, you are more keen to making bad decisions and over-consuming causing health concerns

 

18 in the province of Quebec, 19 for the rest of Canada. I live 5 mins from Quebec. Guess where I had my 18th birthday? LOL!



If anyone wants to drink and are under legal drinking age, it's not a problem to find some booze.

 

Never got pissed in my life and im 23. You can drink from age 3 at home or 18 in clubs. I like my whits about myself.

 

If you can legally die for your country at 18, you should be able to buy a beer at 18.

 

In the "old days" anyone on active duty could consume alcohol on military installations, regardless of the legal drinking age off-base.



However, in the mid-80s, advocacy groups, lobbied Congress to change this. Federal law requires military installation commanders to adopt the same drinking age as the state the military base is located in. The only exception to this rule is if the base is located within 50 miles of Canada or Mexico, or a state with a lower drinking age, the installation commander may adopt the lower drinking age for military personnel on base.

 

I don't think high school kids should be allowed to drink. 18 is a fine line on still in school or not. Over the last 10 years I have seen a lot of them come through the culinary program at the restaraunt, and 98% were definitely not responsible enough to handle drinking. Besides, being that it's 21 gives you something to look forward to after 18.

 

They aren't, but that doesn't stop them.

 

All alcohol consumed before I was 21 was done in excess, and many stupid things were involved.





Since turning 21, not much has changed.

 

I know they aren't, but if 18 were the US legal age, what would stop them (as yes, not much does anyway).