Do you think the difference in drinking ages in Canada and the US...

[HEyHEY]

Contribute to differences in the national character?

I mean, seeing as how Canadian's can get drunk as young as 18 legally, do you think American youn adults get more done? And maybe Canadian young adults grow up quicker?

[tk2kewl]

1. I think my generation is more responsible than todays youth

and the drinking age was 18

i am not sure if the drinking age has anything specific to do with it, but rather our society treats young adults as incapable of making good decisions, and maybe passes to much of the parenting responsibility off to the gov't

[sandnsea]

8. Today's youth are more responsible

I don't know what generation you're from, but today's youth are more responsible than any group since the 50's probably. They face an adult legal system whenever the prosecutor decides to go there. They also know they can't float through life and fall into a good job with no education.

And passing parenting off the the government just smacks of right wing bs. Most people want the government out of parenting which is why it is so difficult to get child care and preschool programs.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

2. Just a means to get people "jailable".

Like every fun-crushing policy there is.

I tells ya, every American that comes visit Rio and is >= 18 and < 21 gets one free beer from me. And I'm going to film it and put it on the 'net.

(I thought it was 19 instead of 18 in Canada?)

[HEyHEY]

3. Some provinces are 18 some are 19

BC, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and the maritimes are 19. Quebec, Newfoundland, Alberta and Manitoba are 18

[Shell Beau]

4. I don't really think that is it.

Our socities are just different. Hell, it differs from state to state here. So, I wouldn't really contribute it to drinking age. I don't know what it is.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

9. It doesn't differ anymore

All of the states are 21.

[Shell Beau]

10. No, what I meant was that we are as different as night and

day depending on what state you are in. I can go to some states and feel like I am in Canada b/c it is so different than what I am used to. That is all I meant by that! Mexico's legal age is 18 too.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

11. Gotcha!

I thought you meant that the drinking age varied from state to state.

[Shell Beau]

12. Well Louisiana was 18 not to very long ago. But that has changed!!

[Kraklen]

5. I think Canadians learn to drink more responsibly.

They get real sick real fast and learn their lesson real fast.

I'm just basing this on personal experience, but binge drinking is ridiculous on American universities. 22, 23, 24 year olds getting way, way too drunk at 2 AM just for the sake of being drunk. And at the sacrifice of their school work too. In most societies those 24 year old drunk revelers would be responsible parents to busy working full time and raising their kids to be pulling that shit.

But maybe I'm just grumpy because I keep getting woken up at 2 AM from the shouts of drunken frat boys.

[LastKnight]

6. i think its the other way around...

americans get less done due to the fact that they think they are doing some major rebellion shit when most people could care less about 18 year olds drinking. the canadian youth probably realize that sooner... so they do indeed grow up faster AND get more stuff done. not to mention learning responsability with it, whereas that doesnt seem to kick in here until the mid-late 20s.

im sure that doesnt make sense to anyone else... but i know what im tryin to say lol.

[Gormy Cuss]

7. When the legal drinking age was 18 in the most states

college was not a bingefest the way it is now. Underage drinking did occur frequently but high school kids had a harder time getting utterly blitzed on a regular basis because they had to face the parents. I think it was a saner system than we have now. Teens who saw their 18th birthday as the day they became responsible did mature more quickly. The impetus to raise the drinking age was an attempt to curb drunk driving. All teen drinking was illegal even for those without a driver's license -- a truly stupid way to address the problem. Lowering the legal BAL and increasing the penalties was a better way. I was amused that no one pursued raising the driving age as a way to control drunk driving. Heck, statistically speaking, teetotaling teen drivers aren't very good risks either.

At eighteen you can enter into contracts (marriage, enlisting, loans) but God forbid you're old enough to make a mature choice about demon rum. It's a very odd place to draw the line.

[Left Is Write]

13. You've probably got a point -

reducing the drinking age back to 18 might cut down on the rampant binge drinking on college campuses.

I became legal to drink at age 19, twenty years ago this month.