Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

Where was all this free booze when I was a kid?

link: [url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/26/AR2008062602577.html]washingtonpost.com[/url]

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

My parents would never buy me alcohol, even my older sister wouldn't. I have friends a couple years older than me who get me alcohol. I'm not a huge drinker though, I've only drank like 3 times in the past six months (20th b-day last friday, one weekend in April, and New Years Day).

Then again I'm not like a lot of people I know that drink, most of them being underage. They drink like every Friday or Saturday night, sometimes both. And they don't do it casually either, their goal is to get hammered and have a good time.

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

Just to put a date on it, i'm 34. We used to get alcohol from:

Someone's older brother, a friend that was 21+, or just someone that happened to look like they might be going in to the grocery store to buy some beer. For some reason saying "hey could you buy us some beer" would usually work.

Buying it ourselves w/ either a hideous looking fake id or buying it w/out being carded at the convenience store outside of the burbs, in the not so nice part of town. For some reason no one cared there.

Lastly, occasionally parents would buy some for their kids and close friends of the kids. My mother would probably still flip out if she knew this, but it did happen...often enough.

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

I didn't really start "drinking" until I got to college. Before then, I'd sneak a shot or so of Jim Beam into a Coke when no one was looking, but nothing more than that.

The guy across the hall freshman year...his girlfriend was 21, so every Friday afternoon, we'd throw some cash in an envelope with our order and slip it under his door, then by 7pm that evening, we could pick it up. Came in very handy...until you ran out of beer Saturday night and had to bum off friends.

After that, I was always friends with someone older, and got to know the guys at the local beer store, so every once in a while when I knew their bosses weren't in, or the cops weren't around, they'd sell to me. In the 2+ years of college before turning 21, I never went without.

Once I turned 21, I'd return the favor from time to time...probably took advantage of the younger guys sometimes (keeping change, buying extra off their money, etc.), but nothing that didn't happen to me. Plus being in a Fraternity, I made plenty of beer runs during parties (I volunteered to stay sober, and drive people to and from if need be). I know I made a run or 2 for AMD...

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

Growing up we drank in my buddies basement. Maybe like twice a month. the beer fridge was always full and we took advantge. His parents turned a blind eye to it.

Honestly though at that age I had no stress and enjoyed hanging with my friends. I would rather on a summer's night in High School gone swimmimg, played b-ball, video games, or talk to girls then drink myself stupid.

Now with a job, mortgage, a HOA, a kid and a wife bring the beer on it is my only escape! =)

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

[QUOTE=mredskins;454453]Growing up we drank in my buddies basement. Maybe like twice a month. the beer fridge was always full and we took advantge. His parents turned a blind eye to it.

Honestly though at that age I had no stress and enjoyed hanging with my friends. I would rather on a summer's night in High School gone swimmimg, played b-ball, video games, or talk to girls then drink myself stupid.

Now with a job, mortgage, [B]a HOA[/B], a kid and a wife bring the beer on it is my only escape! =)[/QUOTE]

I laughed. :D

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

I had my first drink when I was 13.. In 8th grade.. At a party.. That was supervised by adults who had no idea that the alcohol was there. At least not for the first hour. After that, the parents of the chick who was throwing the party found it and sent us all home.

Apparently all you have to do is find the right adult, give them the money (and maybe a little tip) and they'll do it for you. Usually it'd be one of my jailbait looking friends would hook a 21-22 year old guy and get them to buy it.

Also once we got into high school, it was easy to find liquor stores downtown (One of them was in Foggy Bottom) that will give you alcohol and won't even card you. Either that or my friends would slip them an extra $20 or $30 and they wouldn't card.

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

my parents never cared if i drank, even when i was like 12 (military in germany for a bit on both), but as a result i never cared either and never picked it up.

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

[quote=cpayne5;454458]I laughed. :D[/quote]


Good eyes! I didn't think anyone would get it.

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

In other news, water's wet and hell is hot. I mean really, does this surprise anyone???

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

This is a funny thread...I was just asked friday night by one of my employees to buy him beer. He's only 19.
I would have NEVER asked my boss for that when I was younger.

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

The age limit at 21 is kinda retarded. Seriously, all you need is an older brother, a cousin, a friend's brother, a loser that hangs out with teens, your parent's liquor stash, or your friendly 7-11 patron. If you're absolutely desperate a homeless guy will do.

First time I drank beer was when I was 10. I was at an aunt's house and I thought it was new flavor of Coke. Needless to say my parents saw me strutting about with the "coke" and that was the last time we ever went to my aunt's house.

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

sorry saden, 21 is a good age, cause teenagers don't know how to be responsible with drinking. I don't think for one minute that if the age was dropped, they wouldn't need to "sneak" it, therefore they would miraculously become responsible.

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

Does the limit deter teens from drinking? Isn't it the parent's responsibility to teach their kids to drink responsibly?

When you hit 18 you're considered an adult. You are expected to exercise sound judgment and you're held accountable as an adult for your actions. If you can't at 18 I don't know how much difference an additional 3 years make.

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

[QUOTE=saden1;454551]Does the limit deter teens from drinking? [/quote]

It makes it much harder, which in turn does deter teens from drinking. (albeit slightly) Especially with all the laws about selling to underage teens.

[quote]Isn't it the parent's responsibility to teach their kids to drink responsibly?[/quote]

Absolutely, but be careful with this one, parental skills have gone south, so unless you feel 100% OK with parents teaching EVERYTHING the way they should, this argument is about as valid as michael jackson's children's museum pass.

[quote]When you hit 18 you're considered an adult. You are expected to exercise sound judgment and you're held accountable as an adult for your actions. If you can't at 18 I don't know how much difference an additional 3 years make.[/QUOTE]

I understand your argument, especially considering an 18 year old can go into the military, (although one of the main reasons that is true is because it's harder to recruit after kids choose a college / career path, so out of HS is the best way to get them...right or wrong, that's one of the reasons why 18 year olds are allowed in the military) but if 18 year olds showed sound judgement, then they would be able to drink at 18. While there are plenty of responsible 18 year olds out there, the majority are not.
You might be right about the difference between a 21 year old and an 18 year old, but if that argument holds any water, then what's the difference between an 18 year old and a 15 year old? To me there is a world of difference.

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

The drinking age should be 18. If you read the statistics (lies) put out by MADD they love to say how since the drinking age moved from 18--> 21 the deaths from alcohol have gone down significantly. When in fact there has been no drop, just a three year change in the deaths.

Others countries have an 18 drinking policy and have far fewer problems with alcoholism. I've been drinking for a long time, and rarely have I done something very irresponsible. I think drinking when I was young helped me from making stupid mistakes when I got older. Let kids drink at 18, while many folks are still at home (at least for a summer) and learn some responsibility instead of sending them to college to binge drink and be generally stupid about the whole deal.

I don't find it fair that we're not mature enough at 18 to handle alcohol, but we can be charged as an adult in alcohol related offenses before 21.

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

[QUOTE=Daseal;454553]The drinking age should be 18. If you read the statistics (lies) put out by MADD they love to say how since the drinking age moved from 18--> 21 the deaths from alcohol have gone down significantly. When in fact there has been no drop, just a three year change in the deaths.

Others countries have an 18 drinking policy and have far fewer problems with alcoholism. I've been drinking for a long time, and rarely have I done something very irresponsible. I think drinking when I was young helped me from making stupid mistakes when I got older. Let kids drink at 18, while many folks are still at home (at least for a summer) and learn some responsibility instead of sending them to college to binge drink and be generally stupid about the whole deal.

I don't find it fair that we're not mature enough at 18 to handle alcohol, but we can be charged as an adult in alcohol related offenses before 21.[/QUOTE]

We, as a society, have A HUGE drinking problem. Sure most of us can be and are responsible, but there is a mass amount of us that are not. Look at all the DUI's. So until people stop drinking and driving, and doing dumb drunk things, then I don't see how lessening drinking laws are a wise thing. There are plenty of 30 and 40 year olds being completely stupid with alcohol yet we are expecting 18 year olds to do what they can't (or won't depending on perspective)?

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

Jsarno -- why do other countries have less of a problem with alcohol then? I'm talking pure alcoholism. More DUIs in this country makes sense considering the lack of mass transit, etc. But even alcoholism is much higher percentage wise here than most countries with fairly laid back drinking restrictions.

Plus, an 18 year old is an adult. Either make 21 the legal 'adult' age and everything before then is considered a minor, or make them an adult at 18 including alcohol. As I stated in my post, raising the drinking age didn't add responsibility, it actually just made people make bad decisions at an older age.

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

[quote=saden1;454547]The age limit at 21 is kinda retarded.[/quote]
The sky must be falling and hell freezing over....I agree with saden on something non-football related.

[quote]First time I drank beer was when I was 10. I was at an aunt's house and I thought it was new flavor of Coke. Needless to say my parents saw me strutting about with the "coke" and that was the last time we ever went to my aunt's house.[/quote]
That explains a lot :laughing2

I'm older than most of you guys, I grew up very close to Silver Spring and we used to run a few miles across the "border", down GA Ave. into DC and my 18 yr. old friends would get beer. Good times, good times.

Daseal brings up a great point, when I was stationed in Japan there was no drinking age or it was very young, there were beer machines on the street and I watched kids buy liquor at convenience stores off-base. Even so, Japan didn't have any under-age drinking problem I was aware of.

If you're an adult legally at 18, you face the legal system as an adult, you can die for your country, you should at least be able to have a beer.

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

[quote=Daseal;454557]Jsarno -- why do other countries have less of a problem with alcohol then? I'm talking pure alcoholism. More DUIs in this country makes sense considering the lack of mass transit, etc. But even alcoholism is much higher percentage wise here than most countries with fairly laid back drinking restrictions.

Plus, an 18 year old is an adult. Either make 21 the legal 'adult' age and everything before then is considered a minor, or make them an adult at 18 including alcohol. As I stated in my post, raising the drinking age didn't add responsibility, it actually just made people make bad decisions at an older age.[/quote]
My wife's mother is from Germany and her two uncles still live there. When they come here they have a couple of beers with lunch and then have happy hour around 4. I asked them and its pretty common in Germany to drink every night and they really don't think that much about it. Here we would call them Alcholics. Also in other countries a DUI can carry some heavy time in jail. I know in Germany your first offense you serve jail Time and I think it could be up to a year.

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

[quote=Daseal;454553]The drinking age should be 18. If you read the statistics (lies) put out by MADD they love to say how since the drinking age moved from 18--> 21 the deaths from alcohol have gone down significantly. When in fact there has been no drop, just a three year change in the deaths.

Others countries have an 18 drinking policy and have far fewer problems with alcoholism. I've been drinking for a long time, and rarely have I done something very irresponsible. I think drinking when I was young helped me from making stupid mistakes when I got older. Let kids drink at 18, while many folks are still at home (at least for a summer) and learn some responsibility instead of sending them to college to binge drink and be generally stupid about the whole deal.

I don't find it fair that we're not mature enough at 18 to handle alcohol, but we can be charged as an adult in alcohol related offenses before 21.[/quote]

On the flip side of that, I was ultra straight-edge when I was in high school. I NEVER drank.

So I get to college where it's readily available and I went absolutely nuts. I had nothing to compare drinking with so I had a 1.3 GPA after my freshman year fall semester.

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[QUOTE=BDBohnzie;454439]Once I turned 21, I'd return the favor from time to time...probably took advantage of the younger guys sometimes (keeping change, buying extra off their money, etc.), but nothing that didn't happen to me. Plus being in a Fraternity, I made plenty of beer runs during parties (I volunteered to stay sober, and drive people to and from if need be). I know I made a run or 2 for AMD...[/QUOTE]You mean you ripped me off?!?!?! NO!!!!!
Oh well, I did the same thing to the youngin's when I turned 21.

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

[QUOTE=ArtMonkDrillz;454625]You mean you ripped me off?!?!?! NO!!!!![/QUOTE]
Who? You? Never...well, at least that I can remember.

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

[QUOTE=Daseal;454557]Jsarno -- why do other countries have less of a problem with alcohol then? I'm talking pure alcoholism. More DUIs in this country makes sense considering the lack of mass transit, etc. But even alcoholism is much higher percentage wise here than most countries with fairly laid back drinking restrictions.

Plus, an 18 year old is an adult. Either make 21 the legal 'adult' age and everything before then is considered a minor, or make them an adult at 18 including alcohol. As I stated in my post, raising the drinking age didn't add responsibility, it actually just made people make bad decisions at an older age.[/QUOTE]

1- as first down pointed out, the punishments are more severe.
2- More importantly, they can drink from day 1. Therefore it's not something taboo. We americans like to break rules.
3- Believe it or not, I totally agree with NO alcohol restrictions. However, we can't do that since we already have restrictions because people would go buck wild. I am italian, and I've ALWAYS had wine at the table. Can't remember when we didn't. I've always been responsible with alcohol to boot.
There are far fewer accidents on the autobon as well, but that doesn't mean we should abolish speed limits. I do firmly think our lack of parenting in this country means we can not lower the drinking age, or abolish speed limits for that matter.

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

I was listening to the radio on my way home from work back in December and an interesting statistic was brought to my attention. "The Washington DC metro area consumes more alcohol in a year than the entire country of Ireland" I was shocked. A little off topic I know, but I thought that I would throw that out there.

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

[QUOTE=Angry;454699]I was listening to the radio on my way home from work back in December and an interesting statistic was brought to my attention. "The Washington DC metro area consumes more alcohol in a year than the entire country of Ireland" I was shocked. A little off topic I know, but I thought that I would throw that out there.[/QUOTE]

That's an interesting stat.

However, after a closer look, the entire population of Ireland is approx. 4.1 mil. According to washington post, the DC metro area is 5.9 mil as of 2005. So I think it's safe to assume that the DC metro area has a population of around 2 million more people.
I'm also not sure about tourism, but I would wager that the DC area gets more which would increase alcohol consumption as well.

[url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52779-2005Apr14.html]D.C. Area Continues Strong Growth (washingtonpost.com)[/url]

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

[quote=jsarno;454711]That's an interesting stat.

However, after a closer look, the entire population of Ireland is approx. 4.1 mil. According to washington post, the DC metro area is 5.9 mil as of 2005. So I think it's safe to assume that the DC metro area has a population of around 2 million more people.
I'm also not sure about tourism, but I would wager that the DC area gets more which would increase alcohol consumption as well.

[URL="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52779-2005Apr14.html"]D.C. Area Continues Strong Growth (washingtonpost.com)[/URL][/quote]

But there are more Muslims here that do not drink.

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

[QUOTE=Angry;454712]But there are more Muslims here that do not drink.[/QUOTE]

HAHA.

Yeah, but democrats drink more! ;)

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

When I was a teen it was never hard to find someone to buy booze. Hell sometimes even my managers at work would buy it for us. And of course once you get to college it's all downhill from there. I had a pretty good fake ID that I used everywhere. It was a real license but I swear this guy could have been my twin.

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

We got a Costco account on a fake ID. That kept us from having to risk it by showing the ID much since you could use your costco card to buy booze. Some states sold booze, but always lots of beer/wine.

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

[QUOTE=Mattyk72;454737]When I was a teen it was never hard to find someone to buy booze. Hell sometimes even my managers at work would buy it for us. And of course once you get to college it's all downhill from there. I had a pretty good fake ID that I used everywhere. It was a real license but I swear this guy could have been my twin.[/QUOTE]

In college being one of those "they all look the same" minorities really payed off when it came to fake IDs. The ironic part was that when I actually turned 21 I had a harder time getting into places with my real ID "You don't look 21."

Re: Many Teens Getting Free Alcohol From Adults
 

Back when we were 13/14 me and my cousins would pull "Hey Misters" at the beach.

You'd get rejected by about 15 people, but eventually you'd get some "bro" that wanted to help out some young drinkers.

I can remember one time, we drove our parents car out to the store (none of us had our license) and planned a not so elaborate scheme. We simply ran inside the store, grabbed a 30 pack, slapped a 20 on the register, and sped off into the night laughing hysterically. We figured that we didn't steal the beer (it was paid for) and they didn't sell underage kids beer. Win-win situation.

Never has beer tasted so sweet.


Honestly, it's all about discretion IMO. If you're throwing giant parties with underage kids, that's both dangerous and dumb. But I haven't seen any harm come from letting your teenagers slip a little rum into their coke at a family party.

But I guess that's just how I was raised.