Most places have laws or rules governing when someone is old enough to drink. Some places have similar rules on smoking. I drink but do not smoke but let's face it - they are both unhealthy habits. Where I am, the magic number is 19 for both vices. While those underage still find ways to access these items at younger ages, I think the age is about right. You are old enough to be making adult decisions at this point and too old to have people (and governments) making these sorts of decisions for you. To our east, the drinking age is 18 and to the south it is 21. This does create a bit of migration for birthdays. What are the ages for these vices in your area and do you feel they are appropriate or even functional as laws?
I think 18 is a reasonable age for both smoking and drinking. Here in the US, you have to be 21 to drink, but I think it's kind of ridiculous. I mean, at 18 you can join the military and even lose your life for our country. You can vote. You can do pretty much everything BUT drink. That just doesn't seem fair to me, really. I think I read somewhere that one state is thinking about changing the smoking age to 21, and I think that's crazy as well. Like I said; if you're old enough to fight and die for your country and to vote, you are definitely old enough to buy a cigarette. It might not be healthy, of course, but neither are candy bars, and they don't have age limits on them.
I think they should never be allowed or be made acceptable to the public generally. If we allow bad habits, vices, to continuously deluge us, then we are progressively killing ourselves. We can probably try or do some of them, occasionally if not very rarely primarily for social functions.
They normally say that you need to drink responsibly. You should not just drink because you have the money or trying to be like someone else. Drink only when it is necessary and not on a daily basis. People drink because of an event such as a party among others. For me that is when I only drink not always.
Oh, c'mon. For one thing, the United States tried that once with prohibition, and they brought alcohol back for a reason. If it's illegal, people will still seek it out and do it, but more crime, etc. is likely to go on. You can't force people to do what you want them to do. And yes, people should drink responsibly. Not all of them do. People don't all eat responsibly or drive responsibly or anything else. You can't control people.
I get your point. I guess I would even say I agree with most of it but the candy bars thing. I don't think that's a fair comparison as candy bars are not lethal to your health. They're just simply unhealthy. I guess at 18 you can join the military because Americans are patriotic and they feel you're mature enough to do a duty to your country but not enough to make responsible decisions on your downtime. 18-20 is not considered a full adult in some instances and that's the time where people are said to party.
I have mixed feelings about lowering the drinking age for a variety of reasons. Just from my personal experiences drinking underage, a majority of the time we did it at someone's house, and ended up crashing there afterwards - we weren't driving out to bars, and driving home drunk. Considering how much tougher DUI laws have gotten in recent years, the likelihood of getting pulled over is even greater. It's one thing to be in your late 20's or 30's and by then more of a "seasoned" drinker, than being 18 and a lightweight who really doesn't know their limits and are getting behind a wheel. I feel like people should focus on getting a college education out of the way before they have easier access to alcohol. To the extent that getting booze is a little less convenient up until you're 21, which is about when you will be finishing college, I'm fine with it. Getting a DUI while you are still in school will basically bankrupt you, if you are already struggling with college loans and other bills - it's easily $10,000 these days between hiring a lawyer, all the fines, and the costs of taxi rides, increased insurance, and other stuff. Do we really want young people having to put off school because they need to pay off all their DUI fines?
Here inthe UK, you can buy cigarettes and alcohol at the age of 18. However, the majority of people have had their first drink by the time they are 16. I really don't think the age should be increased for alcohol - it will just drive things underground and sales of illegal booze will increase. I would prefer there to be a lot more education on how to drink safely and responsibly instead - you can't stop people drinking so you might as well help them to do it safely.
I don't think laws are that effective in keeping kids off of cigarettes or alcohol since they will usually find a way to get them if they really wanted to but of course it's much better that there are laws in place than if there weren't. The only problem is that usually those laws aren't really enforced, at least where I'm from, since I myself was able to get cigarettes and alcohol when I was around 15.
This is just my personal opinion and everyone's free to discard it. Even if the person's already 18 or 21, I think drinking and smoking should not be allowed if he's still going to school or university. Many students who wallow in vices underperform and are more prone to exhibiting violent behavior toward fellow students. Once they graduate from university and join the workforce, they can drink and smoke as they see fit - and with caution if they want to live longer.
The age of majority is 18 in most countries, when you can vote and can be tried as an adult for a criminal offense and that's when people should be free to do things that maybe considered dangerous for young people. If it's legal then people should be free to do things and it is only an opinion if it is considered bad. Smoking isn't healthy, but is it a bad habit if you like an occasional smoke or a a drink every now and then?
I think that there are two sides to this question. One, is it legal? OK, it might be legal or not, but this doesn't make it healthy. Sure, we can do it on occasion, but as a rule there is nothing we can gain from it, we lose health and money.
The age of 18 is fine in my book. Sure we know that smoking and drinking cause more harm than good, but ultimately we cannot control what other people want to do with their lives. Granted there are drawbacks to secondhand smoke and drink driving, but there are limits to which we can curb personal freedom.
I have no idea how I feel anymore. Kids are going to do what kids want to do.. no age limit will stop them. We need to stop relying on our governments to raise our children. Talk to them, trust them and educate them. So when they do some of these things regardless of what their government tells them, they will hopefully make wiser decisions and be more aware of what they're doing and stay safe. I know people that might be alive today had their parents not just relied on age restrictions. I know what my parents should have done, so I make sure ALL topics are NEVER off limits with my kids and I do it in a very honest way.. no sugar coating or leaving out my own experiences.
Smoking has a double cost. Not only does it cost tidy sums in the long run, it also has serious health implications in practically all organs of the body. This translates into medical costs and lost manpower. I smoked briefly for a year or less and apart from alcoholism, fewer habits rival smoking in their deleterious effects.
People need to drink especial red wine for it is good for the health and heart in particular. People smoke for they couldn't live with it. Whatever the situation therein it is subject for a particular individual to stop it or to continue it. Some countries have imposed laws of drinking liquors for the youths and non smoking ordinances. Whether there is law or not, once better health is under the control of everybody. It if it is bad, then the will stop it. But if it is not, it depends on them as far as their health is concerned.
Legally, only those who are 18 and up can buy and consume alcoholic drinks and cigarettes, at least in our country. I feel that this is appropriate as this is the legal age. However, students who are at this age are generally bound by family rules. Some parents allow occasional drinking while some parents will only allow their children to smoke and drink when they're earning and living on their own. My siblings and I never smoked as this is not just harmful to the body but an expensive hobby as well. We drink on social occasions but never too much and only when we were already working and mature. Currently, there are smoking bans in public places as well as some areas in private buildings. My impression, however, is that there is half-hearted compliance and implementation on anti-smoking laws and anti-drinking laws. For one, only the bigger stores like 7-11, Alfamart and supermarket chains are not selling alcohol and cigarettes to minors. Elsewhere, younger people can purchase them at small grocery or neighborhood stores.
@Lostvalleyguy As countries differ, so does the application of age in trying to limit participants in some vices. In my locale Nigeria, 18 years is noted by the constitution but it's not actually regarded by most people in the state. Most kids these days engage in lots of immoral and heinous vices today without the law doing anything to them. In some occasions, they tend to run away from the authorities after them trying to clamp them down. They engage in smoking, drinking all sorts of alcohol and some tend to carry out rape act once those drinks and smoke take its toll on them. Setting up rules and laws against this is not just enough in my country, but making sure that there is enough man power to execute and implement such laws should be taken into consideration as it would be what will matter a lot.
In our country, the law states that people aged 18 and up can buy and consume alcohol and cigs, but I think it isn't happening. There are a lot of stores here in our place and anyone who can talk even if it's a 5 year old can buy cigs and liquor in a store.
@Lostvalleyguy I made a post where I was of the opinion that individuals should be allowed to do what they like with their lives, and that involves if one should smoke, drink or do some other activities which some sets of people may consider unhealthy for the human system. I used to drink and enjoyed doing so, but since I had some reduction in my income inflow, I had to reduce the amount of beer I take every passing week. I have friends who smoke and derive joy in doing so, and I do not see them as people that are going to die real soon. Smoking and drinking may be harmful to the body in the long-term, but I think all these go down to how one manages his eating habit as well. I believe that healthy feeding should be the focus and not if one smokes or drinks, for even those that do not drink but do not feed fine will see have some issues with their health conditions.
