Gambling and Drinking age: Why 21?

[Rageaholic]

In the US, you are legally considered an adult at age 18. You can vote, smoke, screw, sign up for the military, and have all the legal responsibilitys (good and bad) that an adult has. Except for the right to gamble and the right to drink, for that you have to wait till 21.

I think the gambling age is especially stupid since you are allowed to play state lotteries at 18, but you can't enter a casino until age 21. WTF? Aside from the state actually making money off of the lottery, what is so taboo about casinos to make one have to wait 3 more years?

[blas87]

I'm not sure about other states, but gambling in Wisconsin is illegal, that's why Native Americans own all the casinos, because they are a sovereign nation and therefore, we can gamble if they own the casino.

Doesn't really explain the age factor, I guess, though.

[telecom_goddess]

I don't get it either just make everything 18....by that time you should be done with high school, and again everything else is legal by then so why not. Having different ages for different things seems silly to me.

[blas87]

I also can't figure out why you only have to be 18 to smoke, but 21 to sign up for coupons (or back in the day, to turn in Marlboro Miles for prizes).

[Plaidman]

The reason the age is 21 for Casinos is pretty easy. There is alot of alcohol there, and if you have alot of money, the owners are typically more then willing to give you free alcohal drinks, as long as you play. By adding the 18-20 crowd, means more carding and more risks of underage drinking, which means more risk of losing their alcohol license, which while it doesn't give as money money as their games, is still a big factor on why some people come. Drunk people gambling more and lose more.



The real humor, and what makes me laugh is disgusting. So uh, be warned that yeah, it's disgusting (to some anyway, others love it, but in polite society it isn't something to talk about)


It's perfectly legal for a woman (or male in the genre) to drink and swallow all the male cum she wants on film if she's 18. But My god! THINK OF THE CHILDREN IF SHE TOUCHES BEER!

On the same issue, which everybody knows. It's fine and dandy, and it use to to be even enforced, that you could KILL for your country at 18, Not to mention you even got paid for it, given rewards and other stuff, but man you better not touch that whisky to help you calm yourself somewhat, after witnessing all your friends get blown up, seen a school full of refugees set on fire and horrible screaming of pain and death if your still under 21. Your here to kill, not drink damn it.

[ditchdj]

You can thank MADD and the insurance companies for this.

They say that anyone under 21 isnt mature enough to drink and not drive. Also, drunk drivers cost insurance companies a TON of money when they cause wrecks. Their lobbying groups are among the most powerful in Washington, particularly the insurane companies. They have a TON of money to stuff into the congressmens' pockets. Ever notice that when insurance companies get sued, the insurance companies almost always win??? That's no accident (no pun intended).

So anyway, they tried to pressure the states to make the drinking age 21 to combat drunk driving. When they didnt get their way with all 50 states they took it to DC and got lawmakers there to put renewed pressure on ALL states to make it 21. They got them to say to the states that if they didnt then their federal highway funds would be cut.

Same thing with the mandatory seatbelt laws.

What.......did you think that most politicians retire as millionaires is only by happenstance???

Also.........funny that whenever the insurance companies save money from all this legislation we NEVER see the savings. Instead, our premiums just keep going up anyway.

[protege]

Also.........funny that whenever the insurance companies save money from all this legislation we NEVER see the savings. Instead, our premiums just keep going up anyway.

Some of the increase...is because there are too many stupid people. Ever wonder why Coke machines have warnings not to tip them to attempt to gain free sodas? Simple, some dipshit went ahead and did it...got himself killed, and his family sued Coke... because "there wasn't a warning." Sorry, but give me a fucking break. We should remove all warning labels, and let the problem solve itself

Also, people are still getting into auto accidents. No matter how careful *you* are, it doesn't matter. You can still going to get hit by some idiot on the phone, a drunk driver, or some asshole in a stolen car running from the cops. Even if you're not seriously hurt, cars cost money to repair...and the cost from that isn't going down any time soon. Also, some people really *shouldn't* be driving.

How do I know this? Dad got hit last summer. Some asshole ran a stop sign, and hit him head-on Landed him in the hospital with serious internal bruising, and destroyed his 6-month-old car. The only thing he remembers, is that the airbag suddenly went off. All he was doing, was driving home from work. Next thing he knows, he's in the hospital. As for the guy who hit him? He had no insurance, and his license was suspended!

Then there's what happened to my grandmother. She was involved in a serious accident in '94. Some redneck asshole in a gravel truck rear-ended her car, forcing it into the path of a semi coming the other way. She, and my cousin, had to be flown via helicopter to the hospital. It took a year for her to mostly recover for her injuries, and my cousin had to undergo plastic surgery to repair the damage to his face. All of that crap wasn't cheap. Had it not been for the insurance companies, my grandmother would have been bankrupt! They took care of her--paid for her surgeries, her extensive rehab, buying a new car...as well as my cousin's surgery.

Edit: Thought I'd throw this out there too--I've actually seen my auto insurance *drop* the past couple of years. Not much, but I'll take what I can get. Also, USAA (freaking awesome, BTW) rewards their members with an insurance dividend check every year. Not complaining about that either

[HYHYBT]

Part of the reason would be that pretty much the only people who *care* about the difference enough to even seriously consider doing anything about it are those in that range. (Or under it, but they *really* don't count)

Everybody else, even if they agree it's unfair, has so many other things to worry about it never comes to the top.

[BigGiant]

Well, there are the reasons (mostly political, and mostly about money) of why the laws are the way they are.

But I think they are correct for the most part, because of how our brains develop.

The last area of the brain to reach maturity is the prefrontal cortex, where the so-called executive brain resides—where we make social judgments, weigh alternatives, plan for the future, and hold our behavior in check.

"The executive brain doesn't hit adult levels until the age of 25," says Jay Giedd of the National Institute of Mental Health, one of the lead scientists on the neuroimaging studies. "At puberty, you have adult passions, sex drive, energy, and emotion, but the reining in doesn't happen until much later." It is no wonder, perhaps, that teenagers seem to lack good judgment or the ability to restrain impulses. "We can vote at 18," says Giedd, "and drive a car. But you can't rent a car until you're 25. In terms of brain anatomy, the only ones who have it right are the car-rental people."

Above is from this article: http://science.nationalgeographic.co...-brain/#page=1

Granted, not everyone matures or develops at the same rate, but for the most part folks in their early 20's are impulsive and don't think too awful hard about the consequences of their actions. I know I didn't at that age. In fact, thinking back to some of the incredibly stupid things I did as a teen/twentysomething, sometimes I'm amazed I survived.

[Rageaholic]

I'm not sure about other states, but gambling in Wisconsin is illegal, that's why Native Americans own all the casinos, because they are a sovereign nation and therefore, we can gamble if they own the casino.

Doesn't really explain the age factor, I guess, though.

That's strange because from my knowledge, Wisconsin does have a lottery. Sounds to me like the states just wanna control all gambling so they get all the revenue from it. State Lottery also has the worst odds of any gambling so what does that tell you?

Plaidman: Those are the two main reasons why I think the drinking age should be 18. Especially considering that you can be DRAFTED at that same age. You know, trusted with a dangerous weapon. Yet, you can't be trusted with a fucking drink? WTF?

ditchdj: MADD sounds like all those other groups that take a stand against important issues. They're well intentioned extremists.

BigGiant: Interesting article. I can't speak for myself since I'm not much of a risk taker, but I have done some irrational things and learned from them. Still, I think 21 is a bad idea for reasons I listed above.

[BigGiant]

Rageaholic-

Well, really using your reasoning with the science behind brain development, the logical solution would be to raise the official 'adult' age to 21 rather than lower the drinking and gambling age.

[protege]

That's strange because from my knowledge, Wisconsin does have a lottery. Sounds to me like the states just wanna control all gambling so they get all the revenue from it. State Lottery also has the worst odds of any gambling so what does that tell you?

Up until recently, there weren't any casinos in Pennsylvania. Sure, we had a couple of horse tracks and the lottery...but that was it. When legalized gambling was proposed here, all the usual "it'll ruin the neighborhood" crap came up. Never mind all the dollars that *weren't* being spent here because it was illegal to do so. Right now, we have a couple of casinos--one on the North Shore (near the stadiums), and another in Washington County (Meadowlands). If crime has increased in those areas, it's been so minimal, it's practically nonexistent. PA finally got into the game (pun intended) because it was supposed to increase tourism...as well as allow the state to lower property taxes. And no, lowering our property taxes has *not* happened.

But, I do think that the states want to get their hands on the gambling cash. Like most states, if there's money to be made, they'll find a way to grab it. Hell, this is the state that up until recently...you *still* couldn't buy liquor on Sunday, and beer wasn't available at the local grocery store. Up until now, you had to find a licensed beer distributor.

[Bronzebow]

ditchdj: MADD sounds like all those other groups that take a stand against important issues. They're well intentioned extremists.

MADD might have started off all right, but not any more. If they would stay in the realm of spreading awareness, I would respect them, but this ridiculous farce of a lobbying political power has long since lost sight of that. MADD actually makes up drunk driving injury studies to support their side, and stretch the truth beyond recognition with others. Because of them, we are arresting people for stupidly small amounts of alcohol--an amount shown to have minimal to no impact on your ability to drive. Even if you ignore how little alcohol it takes to be "drunk driving," and how too many cops will arrest you for literally anything over 0.0BAC, that alone has so many ripple effects with stretched LEO forces that we're left with a net reduced amount of safety on the road.

Why we have specific laws for "drunk driving" instead of simply relying on reckless driving laws already in place...I think that speaks more volumes than I could about the power of MADD.

Be careful calling them on their bull, though. You'd probably end up with someone giving you their own story about a loved one involved in an accident with an underaged drunk driver. I'm sorry but 1), if these ridiculous laws you lobbied to get in place didn't prevent your situation, ruining people's lives wouldn't have either and 2), emotionally charged stories only give you knee-jerk laws, and that's dangerous as hell when they're as powerful as they are here.

/rant

Well, really using your reasoning with the science behind brain development, the logical solution would be to raise the official 'adult' age to 21 rather than lower the drinking and gambling age.

Not necessarily. There's also the underground aspect that teens have gotten used to with drinking. If drinking were pushed back down to 18 or (slightly) lower, it's yet another opportunity for parents to introduce their children to alcohol and teach some form of moderation. Teens who want to drink will find a way, anyway. Making it "cool" by locking it down has the opposite effect of what you desire.

Pushing the 'adult' age further up would have a horrific, rebellious effect. If I had to have my parents sign every single contract through college (and a few months after), I woulda long ago pulled my hair out. Nothing good can come of controlling your kids through the majority of their young adult life.

[bhskittykatt]

BigGiant: That's an interesting article. Thanks for sharing!

I personally think that if you're old enough to fight and die for the country, then you should be able to drink. I don't care about keeping the age at 21, but we should allow military servicemen an exemption. They've earned the privilege.

As for gambling, Plaidman nailed it on the head. Because of the alcohol flowing pretty freely through casinos, gambling and alcohol ages will always be pretty much tied together.

[BigGiant]

Pushing the 'adult' age further up would have a horrific, rebellious effect. If I had to have my parents sign every single contract through college (and a few months after), I woulda long ago pulled my hair out. Nothing good can come of controlling your kids through the majority of their young adult life.

I actually agree with this, I was just applying the logic of his argument.

I really think it is fine the way it is. If anything, I'd be in favor of lowering the drinking age for the reason you pointed out- remove the "I'm doing something bad" aspect of it, and you might just find that it isn't nearly as attractive to teens.