I don't deny that 18 year-olds have access to alcohol. I did plenty of drinking well before I was 18. It would be hard to argue however, that lowering the drinking age to 18 wouldn't give them more and easier access to alcohol.
There are tons of laws that I disagree with in this country but this isn't one of them. In fact, I think penalties for selling to under age kids should be much more harsh than they are now.
I'm saying that regulatory requirements should be less strict, so that retailers are not turned into an extension of the government. Many developed countries establish a minimum age for alcohol purchase but don't build unwieldy infrastructures around it, relying instead on the aggregate judgement of their populace.
You seem to have missed the part where I do not want to ask permission of the government for every little thing. I'm well into middle age and do not appreciate having to seek governmental approval for what I consume. I am fine with some products like alcohol being subjected to taxes to balance out negative externalities. I am not fine with the idea of showing my papers on demand.
In my opinion, setting the alcohol/nicotine age to 21 isn't so much to prevent 18 year olds from accessing it, its to prevent 14-16 year olds from access. Every high school has some 18 year olds - products legally available to them will trickle down to younger kids much easier than those that require purchasers to be 21.
So a liquor store should not be responsible for age restrictions and sell alcohol to minors? I think there is always a sliding point between where the government or companies police the rules. It's an interesting conversation where that point should be.
Sure. But that's ultimately because the government has defined that facilitating beer sales to people under 21 is illegal.
If the government decided to stay out of drug regulation entirely, would it be reasonable for companies like Reddit to decide on their own that people under some age should not be able to purchase beer online, set that age, etc.? (Presumably, because there is not overwhelming public support to repeal those laws, society at large believes that young people should be prevented, passive voice, from buying beer - if we move enforcement of that social problem to the people, how should that get implemented?)
I'm against having the drinking age being above the "adulthood" age, and I KNOW lots of kids violate these laws, but it is absurd to say that every single person violates them given the chance.
Okay, so advocate for repealing laws that age-restrict sales of alcohol, tobacco, etc. I don't think you'll find much support for your position, and until you do the company has a duty to do basic due diligence to not break the law.
On a platform that caters to everyone and does not have age restrictions, you would have to sell alcohol to everyone and a subset of everyone is indeed children
From a legal standpoint, not exactly. For instance, people in the US are prohibited from buying alcohol until 21yo. Do you consider that restriction also unprecedented and unjustified? :)
The United States, from a legal perspective, considers anyone at or over the age of 18 to be an adult. There are only two areas that I can think of off the top of my head where this is not the case: the sale of alcohol, and now the sale of nicotine.
Anyone who has been to college knows that the drinking age being 21 is pointless. It just means that an 18 year old who wants to drink will have someone buy it for them, or they'll go to a party and drink jungle juice, or they'll get a fake ID. Having a drinking age at all, IMO, sets up people to seriously hurt themselves when they turn 21 if their parents shelter them.
Barring that last point (since ODing on nicotine like you can on alcohol is a lot tougher), the same will now be the case for smoking / vaping.
From a safety perspective, I would rather have 18 year olds buying legitimate juul pods (although the safety of these should be regulated more heavily) than buying sketchy fake shit off the internet or second hand from a friend.
In Holland beer and wine was allowed from 16 years of age and only spirits were 18+. Unfortunately a recent conservative government switched it all to 18+.
I'm much older but I think 16 is old enough for a beer. I didn't when I were that age but I don't begrudge them their beer.
And it's not like the law will stop it from happening anyway.
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