ARE YOU ADULT ENOUGH TO DEBATE THE DRINKING AGE?

Before you answer, consider the following:

At the age of 18, an American is an adult.

At the age of 18, an American man or woman can take a full-time job,

they can join a union,

they can take that union card and get a job brewing beer, making wine, or distilling liquor,

they can get married, or have consensual sex,

they can have children,

they can adopt children,

they can have an abortion,

they can buy contraceptives (or get them free in school)

they can buy a semi-automatic shotgun or scope-sighted rifle,

they can sell booze in a bar,

they can own a bar in some states (including, apparently, PA)

they can become an armed police officer in at least three states,

they can own a business and employ other adults,

they can get a passport,

they can go see any movie in a theater,

they can become volunteer firefighters and rescue squad members, be responsible for expensive equipment, save people's lives, and risk their own,

they can get a pilot’s license at 17, and at 18 they can become a flight instructor,

they can get a hunting license and legally carry a high-powered rifle,

they can (they must) pay taxes,

they can (and should) vote,

they can rent an apartment,

they can do all the stuff on the Internet that you're supposed to be 18 to do.

they can purchase and carry an 18" Bowie knife,

they can get a mortgage (okay, they can apply for a mortgage),

they can own and drive a car,

they can buy a pornographic movie,

they can act in a pornographic movie,

they can take codeine and morphine with a prescription,

they can sign a contract,

they can purchase and use dynamite in some states,

they can enter a seminary to become a priest or minister,

they can sue,

they can be sued,

they can work as a prostitute in Nevada,

they can play professionally in the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, or MLS for more money than you'll see in three lifetimes,

they can join the military and fight, kill, and die for our country (1/5 of all combat deaths so far in the Iraq war were adults...under 21),

they can serve on a jury and send murderers and terrorists to death row,

they can be sent to death row,

they can run for political office, with some exceptions.

 

But they can’t have a beer. And it's killing them.