Why do Americans feel the need to give underage drinkers a criminal record?
live in Canada, and among the aspect of the United States that I find very silly, there’s the 21-year-old drinking age and the ridiculous penalties for underage drinking. This is greatly undermining the opinion I have of the US.
In Canada, the drinking age is 19 in seven provinces and 18 in three. If someone is caught underage drinking, they are either handed a small fine or arrested and detained until the effect of alcohol is over, that’s all. Underage drinkers don’t lose their driver’s license and don’t get a criminal record that would haunt them for the rest of their life. Additionally, enforcement is much less strict, and police often don’t really care about underage drinking on private property.
I think that American policy of giving a criminal record to underage drinkers is unfair and exaggerated, as a criminal record permanently jeopardizes employment and emigration, and will get a person barred from entering Canada for 5 years. You want to visit Toronto, but four years ago you were caught drinking at the age of 20? Impossible, you’ll get arrested and deported at the border. The punishment doesn’t fit the “crime” at all.
In the state of New Mexico, it’s a FELONY to give alcohol to someone under 21, but only a MISDEMEANOR to drive drunk, even on the third offense. Any reasons for that?
Underage drinking and drunk driving are two entirely different things. I take drunk driving very seriously and I even think aggravated drunk driving (over .12) should be a felony.
Canada has a lower rate of car crashes and deaths and far less problems with alcohol use by young people.
What justifications do you Americans have for these criminal penalties for such a trivial “offense” as consuming alcohol under 21?
Just a little side note: unless you live in the state of Mississippi, people in the 18-20 age group are NOT “minors”. The age of majority is 18 (19 for Alabama and Nebraska). You have to say “person under 21”, “underage drinker” or “underager” as these people are NOT minors.
Sure Texas is one of the most lenient states relatively to under-21 drinking, I knew that alreay. However, Texas and Ohio are the only big states to allow parents to give alcohol to their children. In 20 states, including most of the large ones (California, New York, Florida, Michigan, Illinois, Arizona, North Carolina) it’s a criminal offense for a parent to serve any amount of alcohol to their children. Another oddity is in South Dakota, South Carolina and West Virginia, parents may serve alcohol to their children, but it’s still a criminal offense or the under-21 person to drink it.
My point is that any underage drinking related offense that does not involve driving should only be punished by civil penalties, not criminal ones.
