39 thoughts on “Legal Ages for Drinking, Sex, Gambling, Cigarettes, Marijuana, Driving & Military?”

1. 

   Sam Reid says:

   19 for alcohol

2. 

   Merri Cat says:

   my answers though they mean nothing would be: drinking 18, cigarettes 18, gambling 18, driving 15 or 16, military 18, age of consent 16… but I would want it to be some consideration for age. I wouldn't want a 16 year old having sex with a 40 year old but with a 22 year old that be okay.

3. 

   Michael Crawford says:

   if your old enough to go into military service, die for your country ,then your old enough for anything anyone says your not old enough for, period..

4. 

   dibdab says:

   what about legal age to hold public office? 35 years old to be president feels way too high in my opinion.

5. 

   No Google, I don't want to use my real name. says:

   I would categorize it by order of responsibility required. Which is of course entirely subjective, but I will give it a go:

   Military (Risk of your own safety and others to a higher degree) > Driving (Risk of your own safety and others to a lower degree) > Gambling (Risk of debt and addiction, arguably worse than temporary health problems from OD.) Marijuana (Risk of OD and addiction – highest health risk) > Drinking & Smoking (Risk of OD and addiction – moderate health risks) > Sex (Risk of having and raising children)

   Now we simply apply the highest state of maturity to the category with the highest responsibility requirement, in this case, the military, which gets the age of 21. Then to make things simple we just subtract 1 year from this number every time we get to a new category with lower responsibility requirements. Now you can argue that maybe it takes more responsibility to control your sex drive than it does drinking, this is arbitrary afterall. But by using this method of categorization, categories that are similair in responsibility never end up more than 1 year apart from eachother. So with my example, the ages would be:

   Military – 21 > Driving – 20 > Gambling – 19 > Marijuana – 18 > Drinking & Smoking – 17 > Sex – 16

6. 

   troy says:

   personally I belive the smoking "green" age should be 21 as people underestimate the psychological effects on brains not fully developed, in saying that research, research, research we need more of it with less government prevention.

7. 

   samiamrg7 says:

   The classic arguments for the 26th ammendment (which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18) is a young soldier saying "if I can fight and die for my country, I should be able to bote in elections too."

8. 

   Fábrica de fritanga says:

   What are the legal ages for those things in USA or other countries? In México it's: 18 for buying alcohol (but really if you are with your parents you can drink if you have their permission, even if underage) 15 or 16 for sex (depending on state laws), 18 for gambling, 18 for tobacco, marijuana is still ilegal everywhere (I want to say 'here's hoping' but really it still seems a million years away), 16 for driving (with parents permission, otherwise 18), 18 for military. I was baffled to learn that in USA you can actually go to war before buying a beer…

9. 

   izovire says:

   18 AND you need to take a class on each to get a license, like driving.

10. 

    Adam Chester says:

    Just here to leave a dislike.

11. 

    Nas PB says:

    26

12. 

    Brandon M says:

    the age we have now to enlist in the military is fine, right now its 17 with parent permission, and 18 without parent permission, I'm 17 and enlisting in a few months, I understand fully what I am doing and agree to the possibility of my death occurring under the field of work I am choosing to do, which is Cavalry Scouts or Infantry in the Army. Let's remember it takes about 2 years from the start of Basic Training to the point of deployment. you have to finish basic, finish AIT, which can take up to 2 years to complete in its self, depending on the MOS, During Operation Enduring Freedom Pre-Deployment Training took 11 months, on top of that you can't deploy until your 18, meaning there would be no 17-year-olds dying in wars, it would be highly unlikely for that to happen with the training system the military has implemented.

    Although i agree I should be able to smoke and drink at 17/18

    (I am American but in the country, I am living in currently which is New Zealand I am able to drink as much as I want at home and am able to drink as much as I want if a parent/guardian is with me.)

13. 

    UNIVERSAL_DEATH says:

    What about taking a test to see if there mature enough to do those things?

14. 

    Rui Teixeira says:

    8 year olds in the military sounds like the INFANTRY

15. 

    David Ortiz says:

    17

16. 

    sticksteg says:

    hey D-Pak, good news…this video had an advertisement, OREO w/ Shaq, INCREDIBLE!

17. 

    PHILL SHIVELY says:

    What Should be the Legal Age for Meth?

18. 

    dennis says:

    are you ever old enough to do anything in life??

19. 

    Jon Rosen says:

    drinking…….21
    sex…….MARRIAGE
    gambling…….NEVER
    cigarettes…….NEVER
    marijuana……UNLESS YOU ARE SEVERELY ILL…….NEVER
    driving……..21
    military…….NEVER!

20. 

    Jesus Fajardo says:

    here in the US the legal age to do all those thing is 18 years old as long as you are in the military(for everyone else the legal age for drinking alcohol is 21, for smoking cigarettes 21, but for smoking weed is 18 fucking years old(that's bull shit, I mean the law!!) bottom line!!!!… I have siblings in the military one of them is about to "retire"(40 yrs Old) and the other one(19 yrs Old) just got "in" last week!! and guess what they? they both can drink and smoke the same thing with no question ask!!!!..

21. 

    morgan bernhardt says:

    drinking age here in belgium is 16 (lower if you are accompanied by/have permission from an adult)

22. 

    SaiyanDuckk says:

    The drinking culture is worse in Australia than America but we have the drinking age be 18. its weird.

23. 

    ProGMO Vegetarian says:

    Omg I'm taking my liscense test on August 3rd this year. Twininggggg!

24. 

    DonQuixotedeKaw says:

    Arbitrary ages for any privilege and/or responsibility are neither logical nor coherent. Measured abilities, skills, awareness and aptitudes, as metrics of merit are entirely logical and coherent. Every type of activity which any sane society recognizes a need for a minimum of abilities, in order to effectively function, should require graduated levels of licensing. With the exception of initial physical development and regressive geriatric limitations, the metrics of merit for licensing "X", should have nothing to do with age. This includes and is ESPECIALLY applicable to carnal activities, such as sex, reproduction and parenting. Any situation which requires a minimum of proactive and adaptive flexibility of response (responsibility) should require licensing. And I strenuously include the privilege of voting, within this list. Our entire public educational system should be geared not as it is (to producing effective corporate drones) or as DeVos wants it to be (to producing selectively indoctrinated sociopaths) but to producing competent and developed human beings. Graduated licensing; granted, advanced, suspended, regressed and revoked, according to communally measured metrics of merit, is the prime way to pull the U.S. out of its downward spiral into self termination.

25. 

    David Lemke says:

    18. Younger for consent to sex. Not much younger though. 17? 16?

26. 

    Julian Laureano says:

    I'd raise it all to 21 except driving and sex I'd keep the same.

27. 

    Super One says:

    Driving and sex should be 16. You need to be able to get around in order to contribute to society and sex is a natural function. Before everyone moved to the cities being married at 16 was pretty common. Everything else should be 18, because you need a couple more years of maturity before you make life changing decisions. The 21 year old restrictions are ridiculous. You can make the decision to risk your life for the country at 18 yet you can't play a game of risk (gambling) until three years later? That's ridiculous.

28. 

    Daniel Moon says:

    We in Europe have a serious binge drinking epidemic – but regardless it's better that we have a lower drinking age

29. 

    Mat S says:

    german drinking age for wine and beer… 16!

30. 

    Stephen Hill says:

    Drinking and driving is illegal so wait until people become mature at 21? Of course we should because 50 year old people never drink and drive and cause accidents. If you are old enough to kill people – real people – then you are old enough to do everything else. Maybe the age for joining the military should be raised to the age when you can do everything else.

31. 

    YensR says:

    drinking 16/18 (in restaurant/buying)
    gambling 250 (or 25 and make running a casino illegal for anyone under 250)
    cigarettes 250 (or 25 if you agree to fully pay yourself for any future lung/throat cancer treatment)
    marijuana 18…21 (depending on legal framework and certification of sold goods)
    driving 16…18 (depends on type of learner license)
    consenting to sex 12 (with humans of the same age group)
    joining the military – 21 + finished college or apprenticeship

32. 

    Mephistahpheles says:

    There should be a MAXIMUM age for voting. Seniors shouldn't be deciding a future they won't be part of.

33. 

    albedoshader says:

    Drinking age in Germany: 16 for beer and wine, 18 for spirits.

34. 

    Onkel Jajus Bahn says:

    Lol Austrian laws:
    Alcohol: 14 with parents, 16 beer and wine, 16/18 destilled (depending on the state)
    Tobaco: 16 (to be raised to 18 soon)

35. 

    Najee P says:

    I was listening to this in the car and kept thinking about it after the video was long over. There is the mixture of science(brain development specifically when it pertains to logical decision making) and culture when it comes to this stuff.

    Because of cultural factors, there is a marriage between the drinking age and the driving age. I think the drinking age should still be 21 Federally. The ONLY exception would be people who have served. So basically I'd push for federal legislation that states if you're under 21 but have served in the military for at least 6 months or have been deployed then you should be able to drink. I don't think there would be this influx of kids joining the military just to drink under the age of 21 and if there were they definitely wouldn't last 6 months if their heart wasn't in it.

    I think the age of consent should be 16 federally. If I'm not mistaken some of these ages vary state to state in our country. Like Pat was saying some of the ages have to be high enough to kind of cap out the issue. So obviously age of consent shouldn't be 10 but people could be sexually ready by 14. But if you make it 16 then you're pulling from a larger pool of people which I think is good.

    Marijuana should probably be 16. It's more arbitrary there but Marijuana is technically less harmful than alcohol so the age should be lower. Also, it removes the taboo behind it if 16yrs can buy it.

    Cigarettes? 21 because they're terrible for you.

    Gambling I'd say 18 because at 18 you should be dealing with your finances however you want to.

    Joing the military? Well, I thought about it and I really would push for a 19yr legal age. My reasoning was that it gives every 18yr old 1 yr after high school to at least try college(or any other option). Also in the case of a draft, these kids could still have an option right after high school given this extra year.

    Did I miss driving? Idk again a little arbitrary at this point. You're talking about motor skills(ha puns) but also different levels of traffic. This might be the only one that I would say should stay non-federal. In NJ where I live, I think it should be 16 for permit and 17 for a license. But when I lived in GA it was 15 for permit and 16 for a license. And both make sense to me.

36. 

    Jerry Hewes says:

    Do you have something to say?

37. 

    Junior Mendiola says:

    there is alot of whores at 14 ,15 ,16 and 17 years old .. but some people think their innocent kids .

38. 

    Dan Sanger says:

    drinking – 16 for beer and wine, 18 for hard liquor
    gambling – 18
    cigarettes – 18
    marijuana – 18
    driving – 16
    sex – 16
    military – 18 for non-combat, 21 for combat

39. 

    Christian Lee says:

    You're an adult at 18 but everything consider to do "adult stuff" isn't till 21