Places Where Legal Drinking Age Is 18
In the United States, there have been proposals to change the legal drinking age. They haven`t gone far with lawmakers, making it unlikely that the minimum drinking age will change anytime soon. Health experts cite evidence that the age of 21 is necessary to protect young adults from alcohol dependence. States that have raised the minimum drinking age to 21 have seen a decrease in the number of car accidents. The second most common minimum age for alcohol consumption is 18. In fact, 35% of the countries on our list follow this rule. The most common third age for drinking is listed as “illegal” and the fourth most common age is 21, just like in the United States. The U.S. is twinned with only seven other countries with a drinking age of 21 or four percent, making the U.S. a minority.
Believe it or not, the United States is not a unique country for alcohol policy. While the U.S. is known for its drinking age of 21, this strict limit of 21 is actually not the case for all states. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 withholds money from states that allow those under 21 to purchase alcohol. Before the law went into effect in 1984, each state had its own drinking age, which varied widely. The minimum drinking age in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec is 18. Canada`s other provinces and territories allow the legal purchase of alcohol at age 19. Take a look at the rest of the drinking age of every country in the world on the map above or read on for more information. Therefore, many compilers mistakenly list countries that do not have a minimum drinking age.
This leads to a lot of confusion. Especially if the lists have titles like “Global Drinking Ages”, “Drinking Ages in Different Countries” and so on. In Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Pakistan, Maldives, Iran, Afghanistan and Kuwait, it is illegal to drink alcohol. Most of these countries prohibit alcohol for religious purposes. For example, alcohol in Bangladesh is illegal for Muslims, but legal privately for non-Muslim tourists. In Pakistan, non-Muslim citizens are allowed to possess alcohol if they consume it in a religious ceremony. In the Maldives, alcohol is legal for tourists over the age of 18, but selling alcohol to local Maldivians is a criminal offense. Alcohol is illegal in Iran, but minority religious groups can buy small amounts of alcohol from traders belonging to the same minority religion. The legal drinking age around the world varies widely. Most of these laws apply only to the consumption of alcoholic beverages in public. The only countries with a legal drinking age at home are England and Wales.
They forbid drinking before the age of six. Very often, countries set the lowest legal age to buy alcohol. However, they do not set a minimum age for consumption. In fact, many drinking age lists actually use the buying age for the drinking age! That is, compilers mistakenly assume that the age of purchase and the age of alcohol consumption are the same. Studies have varied, but some researchers say no amount of alcohol is good for your health, and excessive alcohol consumption can damage the body and brain, especially in a young person. There is some evidence that high alcohol exposure may be associated with brain impairment and cognitive deficits, including memory problems. Mexico earns millions of dollars from its tourism industry. If you are traveling there with your family, think about the age of alcohol consumption and the penalties that can result from breaking the law. We probably don`t need to tell you that different countries have very different approaches to alcohol.
Different tastes, different styles and, perhaps more directly, different laws. Depending on where you go in the world, the drinking age can be 15, 18, 20 or 21. In some countries, there may not be a legal drinking age. Amethyst Initiative. The Amethyst Initiative is a program of college and university presidents. It promotes discussion about the legal drinking age at the age of 21. The problem of identifying the optimal minimum age to reduce alcohol abuse is serious. These are issues of freedom, responsibility, parental rights, religion, politics and many other areas of life. In the late 1970s, some states raised their minimum age to combat the incidence of impaired driving. In 2016, Luxembourg was the country with the highest percentage of 15-19 year olds reporting heavy episodic alcohol consumption in the past 30 days, with 54%. It was followed by Equatorial Guinea with 53.7 per cent and Lithuania with 53.2 per cent.
In chemical terms, alcohol is an organic compound formed during the fermentation of grains, vegetables or fruits. Medically, alcohol is classified as a sedative (as opposed to a stimulant like caffeine or a hallucinogen like psilocybin) with a variety of physiological effects. Most of these effects involve slowing down or obstructing bodily functions. For example, alcohol inhibits bodily motor functions and slows reaction times. The more you drink, the slower and clumsier they become.