<p>Yeah my 17 year old swiss friend is always drinking wine :P</p>
<p>Obviously the drinking age in America doesn't make sense. Firstly, it's not tied to an other measures of maturity (voting, military service, tobacco purchasing, and the big one - vehicle operation), and secondly even if it were, by the age of 18-19 most teenagers are much more than mature enough to handle drinking.</p>
<p>The problem is, no politician will address then issue; everyone knows it's stupid; most people would not object to it being changed. It's just one of those issues that seems to never get touched by politicians. This has a great deal, I think, to do with the low voter turnout in the constituency that would be affected - they don't vote much, so even if the ones that did vote voted, it would still probably not outweigh the small proportion of the much larger adult voter group that would vote against any politician who proposed this type of amendment to the drinking age. I know several groups who would easily strike a candidate off simply for that one policy.</p>
<p>I read a study recently that stated that if alcohol were some sort of new, never before seen substance submitted to the FDA for approval, it would be denied.
The only reason it's legal is because it ALWAYS has been and people would be in an uproar if their "right" to consume alcohol was taken away.
Medically, psychologically, and socially speaking, it's more damaging than a lot of illegal drugs.</p>
<p>Just some food for thought.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I read a study recently that stated that if alcohol were some sort of new, never before seen substance submitted to the FDA for approval, it would be denied.
The only reason it's legal is because it ALWAYS has been and people would be in an uproar if their "right" to consume alcohol was taken away.
Medically, psychologically, and socially speaking, it's more damaging than a lot of illegal drugs.</p>
<p>Just some food for thought.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>In addition to this statement, if marijuana was a new substance and was submitted to the FDA for approval, there would be a very good chance that it would be approved. Marijuana is completely harmless, but this is overshadowed by the propaganda in the past couple of decades.</p>