21-60?

[Shivers]

We all know how some men said people under 21 shouldnt drink alcohol etc so the usa passed a law saying u had to be 21 to chug alcoholic bevergages,
but what if the USA passed a new law saying u had to be inbetween the ages of 21-60 to buy alcohol? And they said that people age 61 and older were simply too old to drink alcohol anymore and thus made it illegal for them, claiming that in advanced age alcohol is even worse for you and saying too many old people are suffering from health problems from drinking alcohol at advanced ages.

Doctors are often telling people in their 60s to stop drinking because its bad for them. if someone is drinking in their 60s then most likely they been drinking for a long time anyway, and the doctor tells the 60s people they have to put down the bottle to stay healthy from now on.
What u do if the usa passed this law? Or the whole world, I should say. And cops checked peoples ID and took people into custody for being 61 or older who were drunk or who had possesion of alcohol, and had even stiffer sentences in jail than minors in possesion.

Would it be justified? I know most people dont like laws that "are for their own good."
What would u do if this law happened. Do you think it one day will happen? 20 years in the future, or 30.

[Coda]

It's not going to happen. There are too many people who would complain -- it would be seen as an attack on veterans in particular; the US's peak involvement in Vietnam was in 1968 and soldiers who enlisted in that year are now 61 years old and are often heavy drinkers (to the point where the meeting houses of the Veterans of Foreign Wars are often treated by its members as just a place to get beer). Such a law would see widespread violation to the point where it would be nearly unenforceable.

Honestly, if we're worried about public health and safety, the drinking age should be raised to 25. College students are far more likely to do stupid things involving alcohol than the elderly, and keeping people over the age of 60 from drinking would have very little impact on public health and safety. Of course, such a law would see a great deal of resistance as well, but statistically speaking that would do more good for the general welfare than making senior citizens unable to legally acquire alcohol.

If we're worried about INDIVIDUAL health, it won't make much difference either. In particular, anyone that age who drinks heavily enough to have health problems is essentially already committed to liver damage and quitting won't add more than a few years back. And anyone who DOESN'T drink that heavily is most likely going to be RESPONSIBLE about alcohol consumption by that age -- certainly I haven't often heard of a senior citizen bingeing like a college student.

I'd be more worried about driving age (which is currently 16 to death) than drinking age; elderly people are far more dangerous to themselves and to others when controlling two tons of steel with their diminished eyesight and reduced reaction times. But you can't cut that off at an arbitrary age because different people age at different rates -- it would need to be based on some sort of measurable ability, not on chronological age.

[Anna]

May I say something?
My personal opinion is, let all drugs be free.
100 years ago it was free.
Do you remember? Coca Cola was at first filled with cocaine.
And now? You've got crime.
Simply have a look to the prohibition era.
The rise of horrible crime syndicates.
They lost when alcohol was free again, but as we germans say: "Die Katze ist aus dem Sack" the cat is out of the bag.

Cannabis, we germans know it also as Hanf, was a very important plant.
There were laws in the early USA if a farmer wouldn't had fields with hemp, he would get some trouble.
But not because a nation wanted to be high forever.
See here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp
Better to read this then to explain it with my incredible english knowledge.

It was the paper industry which had a lobby to make hemp demonic, paper made of trees, and not hemp, the owners of the woods wanted to have a big market, to make big business.
So hemp was forbidden.
Hm, did you ever heard about that George Washingtoen and the first congress of the USA did consume one joint after another?

You must always be aware about the history of drugs.

But to be honest, I don't like drugs.

I can not understand why people want to consume it.
That's not my way.
Maybe there's a reason for it, - my mother was an alcholic.
So I know about drug abuse, and alcohol is a drug.
I'm not telling stories and examples about my experiences with my mother.
But I know that her addiction did influence me too, as it did to everyone in the familiy.

In Germany you can buy alcohlics with 18, and we've got no special stores for it.
You can find it in supermakets, but if you look very young, it is possible that you must show your passport, or your driving license, for this you must also be 18.
(Ahm, not exactly, you can make your license with 17, but you must drive along in a car with an older one who has got also a license.
And however, your licence is for your whole life. But it can be revoke, for example, if the police finds you in a car and you are drunken.)

[Coda]

I agree with you wholeheartedly, Anna, but unfortunately the United States has developed a culture of drunkenness, especially among younger people. An 18-year-old German in Germany is going to be a lot more responsible with alcohol than a 21-year-old American in the States. It's purely a cultural thing. It has become a CULTURAL thing that people here drink not to enjoy the beverage, not to relax, but for the explicit purpose to get themselves as screwed up as possible.

[Anna]

I agree with you wholeheartedly, Anna, but unfortunately the United States has developed a culture of drunkenness, especially among younger people....

Oh, no, younger german people do also drink to much, there is a word: "Komasaufen" -> drink until you fall into the coma.
This problem is also existent, and it seems that in all countries this problem is growing.
It's easy to say, but also very horrible true, that most of the youngsters don't see any future for themselves.
So they are hanging around with friends or so called friends...
The riots a few months ago in London wasn't a problem of alcohol, but the reason was the same.
Politics who gives some dirt about the people, "einen Scheißdreck drum geben".
The ignorance of the political class forces reactions like this.
If you are drunk you're unable to stand up, or for some protests.
A society under drugs, chemical or in other form, for example tea and party propaganda, which can make you drunken by words, is easy to guide, to lead where ever you want.

[Coda]

I suppose that's true, with the globalization and glamorization of American society, our problems are spreading to other countries. But Anna, are German college students expected to go out to parties and get drunk? (This is a legitimate question -- I'm curious about the culture.) American students, by and large, are more or less assumed to do exactly that, and (cheap smelly American) beer flows like water, and while it may not be true for everyone it's common enough that people BELIEVE it's true of most.

[Shivers]

Why do u seem to think this is mostly a american problem with drinking coda? ur suggestign American is spreading wreckless alcohol drinking behaviour to other countries? Surely u are insane! Every country has its own problems with alcohol im sure there is LARGE AMOUNTS of 18 year old germans who get way shit faced drunk out of their minds just like americans. stop hating on america coda.

[Coda]

Why do u seem to think this is mostly a american problem with drinking coda? ur suggestign American is spreading wreckless alcohol drinking behaviour to other countries? Surely u are insane! Every country has its own problems with alcohol im sure there is LARGE AMOUNTS of 18 year old germans who get way shit faced drunk out of their minds just like americans. stop hating on america coda.

Party drinking as we know it today DID originate in the US. It's been spreading as US culture propagates via television, film, and the Internet, but it started here. Yes, there are people in other countries who get drunk; that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that most countries don't GLAMORIZE drunkenness. I'm not hating on America. This is documented fact.

[Coda]

Okay, okay, I've done a little research, and I found that the US isn't *alone* -- but the list is very short and half list speaks English. Beyond the US, other countries where college students have a reputation for binge drinking are Canada, UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark.

Interestingly, despite this reputation, Danish students overall drink less than Danish adults, and Danish adults only drink an average amount of alcohol compared to the rest of the world -- and Danish students drink more than anyone else on that list. So clearly there's still a cultural difference here. Also, the northern European countries on the list ALSO have some of the strictest laws regarding drunkenness -- in some countries, getting caught driving with alcohol in your system is a one-strike permanent lifetime ban on driving.

By contrast, southern Europe has comparatively much less binge drinking among teens and college students; this is often attributed to the culture there introducing alcohol to young people fairly early on, with parental approval, in a safe environment, instead of leaving them to experience it for themselves the moment they become the age of legal drinking.

[Wizard CaT]

Such a law would see widespread violation to the point where it would be nearly unenforceable.

Just what, pray tell, would you call the current drinking law in America? If you did not know, it has widespread violation.

[Coda]

I never said it was substantially better! XD

[Shivers]

So Ur saying really arrest anyone is that right or was age considered?