If/When pot is legalized should there be an age requirement like alcohol?

[Toots]

Pot was totally legal in Alaska for seventeen years but it was illegal for anyone under nineteen years old. It was also illegal to possess more than four ounces at a time(in your home) and only one ounce in any public area. Funny crime rates also went down dramatically during this period. Is nineteen a good age limit or should it be raised to twenty one like alcohol, or should there be any limit at all?

[tavalon]

1. Well, I'm really fringe on this issue but

I think all drugs and alcohol should be legal and somewhat without an age limit. I think a person should have to take a class, like a driving class, before receiving a card that allows them access to whatever drugs and/or alcohol they want. I think education makes for better decisions no matter what age. And I want Erowid to run the classes. They lack the usual bias and they have a huge amount of information on just about any drug you might wish to partake of.

I told you I was fringe.

[exboyfil]

3. 18 for everything

If you are old enough to vote and serve in the military, then you are old enough to drink, smoke, and toke.

[Statistical]

7. So a 5yr old can do hard drugs as long as he/she went to a class?

Why not make it 18 and make drug education simply part of school curriculum rather than needing a card to prove you have the privelege of putting substances in your body?

"I told you I was fringe."
At least you warned us. :)

[tavalon]

18. Well, I'm old and yet,

somehow, I'm able to remember that me and my fellow classmates in high school were having sex (many of us without protection because there wasn't sex education in Southern Baptist land), smoking pot and drinking quite a bit. Now, granted the legal drinking age was 18 back then, but I was 14 the first time I got drunk. As an aside, I was astounded at my tenth year high school reunion that as my fellow classmates had become parents, they had suffered an amnesia that I had not and still have not.

Sure you used an absurdity to show the slippery slope. I get it. But, use whatever arbitrary age you feel is appropriate but for goodness sake, be aware that people will do what people will do when they choose to do it. So educate them early and often. Alas, school is now just an endless train for the tests, so unless there are going to be yearly tests on the drugs, teachers aren't going to have the time nor the ability to do that teaching. That however, is a whole other kettle of worms having nothing to do with this discussion.

[JonLP24]

20. Well said

Sounds a lot like my youth except for the sex part(had none).

[gateley]

22. Well said. I took drugs for years and the illegality didn't stop me for a second. I'm

very strong about the education -- and GOOD education rather than just scare tactics. Which we never believed anyway.

[tavalon]

29. Exactly!

After I had an early pregnancy scare, I made it my business to self educate and I extended that to pot and alcohol and I became the go to girl for the right information. I hope I helped a few people not make the mistakes I made, but on the other hand, teenage brains are not adult brains and with that immortality belief that comes with that age bracket, who knows?

I recently read a study that purported that the human brain isn't fully developed until around age 25, so if we're going for arbitrary numbers, there's one that might make sense though it won't stop anyone younger. Those limits rarely do.

[Dappleganger]

2. I've always felt any of those substances should be legal for 18 yr. olds.

If you're old enough to die for your country in an illegal war, you're old enough to choose to get seriously hammered and live a little.

[HopeHoops]

4. 18 all around - old enough to fight and die, old enough to drink and toke.

[uncommon]

5. Yes. I think either 18 or 21 would be reasonable. I really would rather people

smoke weed than drink.

[lunatica]

6. When you're old enough to be sent to war you're old enough for everything

included in that everything is the right to vote, to drink, and to smoke legal pot. If the government deems you old enough to fight it's useless wars for the world's resources then it should consider you old enough to make your own decisions.

[DrDan]

12. lets reset the age to be sent to war to 30

18 to join the military, but no war-zone assignments until age 30

[tavalon]

19. Fucking awesome idea!

[littlewolf]

14. +1

[Uben]

8. Pot should be free to anyone over 55

Guess how old I am?

[Winterblues]

25. That should be in the Party's Platform.

:-)

[Statistical]

9. 18 and at the same time alcohol legal age should be 18 too.

If 18 is the age of majority one should have all rights and responsibilities at that age.

If one can sign an enforceable contract at age 18, get married at age 18, die in a foreign war at age 18, be sentenced as an adult at age 18 then he/she should be able to drink or smoke at age 18.

All >18 restrictions are IMHO Unconstitutional (equal protection under the law and all that). I would even go so far as to include age restrictions on political office. It is merely reverse ageism.

[Toots]

10. A lot of kids are still in high school at eighteen

I think the bottom line should be nineteen. alaska used to have the drinking age at eighteen but the first Bush put so much pressure upon every state with a low drinking age that it was changed to twenty one. There was however an incredible amount of evidence that more accidents happened with children under twenty one that drank alcohol and drove...In fact it was because of such a tremendous amount of evidence that every state followed suit and raised the drinking age.. Not sure Pot is anywhere close to alcohol but I do not want my grand kids smoking pot at least until they get out of high school..

[tavalon]

21. I already said this in another post, but I suppose it bears repeating

Whatever you may want for your grandkids, remember your own growing up. Did you really wait until it was "legal" to do _______________? If you did, then kudos, but you're an anomaly. If your grandkids know you want to believe that they will be innocent, whatever that means, until after high school, I promise they'll give you that illusion if they love you as much as I loved my grandparents (who raised me actually). But the odds that they are giving you the real scoop, is, well, no better than it was in my generation and likely even less.

Amnesia, in these areas, serves none of us, especially those kids we treasure.

[Ian David]

11. I would say it should be 21, like alcohol, unless you have a prescription from a doctor. n/t

[liberal N proud]

13. Why not start them out at 2 or 3

Seriously, 21 just like alcohol. Yes 18 is a legal adult, but many 18 - 20 year olds are not mature enough to handle things like alcohol or marijuana.

[Statistical]

23. Then maybe age of legal majority needs to be raised to 21.

So someone isn't mature enough to drink but they are mature enough to die in foreign war, sign a horrible binding financial contract, or get make a lifelong commitment in marriage?

The reality is there are some 25 year olds, 40 year olds, hell 90 years olds not "mature" (which you really mean responsible) enough to drink or smoke.

If 18 is the age of majority isn't it reverse ageism to deny people some right while imposing some responsibilities on them (being charged as a adult, getting drafted, entering into binding contracts).

So to those who say people shouldn't be able to drink from age 18-21 I saw they shouldn't be able to do anything then (vote, own property, sign contract, get married, go to war, etc).

Either make age of majority 21 or treat 18 year olds as an adult.

[JonLP24]

15. 18

Cannabis is nowhere near as harmful and strong as alcohol so I think it is ridiculous to make it 21 like alcohol.

[Upton]

16. Same age as alcohol..

you don't want to give the enemies of legalization any more ammo than necessary..

[HuckleB]

17. 21. -eom-

[Regret My New Name]

24. I think it should be 12...

[meow mix]

26. 18 is fine, 21 for puritans

[LynneSin]

27. I have no problem with creating similiar laws with both age requirements and driving under influence

I think it's about time our country legalizes it (although I've never done the stuff I've never had issues with it). My biggest worry is about an influx of people who will be driving while stoned. Sure, I can almost guarentee a bunch of DUers will post how they drove while stoned and trust me, I can share with you stories about how I managed to drive a car home while totally intoxicated (nothing I'm proud of but done it enough times - stupidity in my 20s). Just because a few people might be able to drive while under influence and get away with it doesn't mean the rest of the US population will have the same luck. If people cause car accidents and are found to be under the influence of pot, I would expect they receive the same treatment as if someone were drunk.

Point is this, when it comes to driving, we should do everything we can to pay attention to the road and put stuff away that can distract us from driving safely - that includes drinking alcohol, smoking pot, other drugs and even things like texting, chatting on the cell phone, putting on makeup, etc. etc.

As for age - I think 18 is a good cut-off point.

[JonLP24]

30. I agree

but one thing is, alcohol intoxicates you much more than cannabis can but you can probably drink 2-3 beers without going over the .08 limit. Also they're varying degrees of punishment as when you're .15 then the punishments get really severe so when it comes to drinking, the law is flexible. Today when it comes to cannabis, just having it in your blood stream is evidence of driving while high when you smoked yesterday but drove today. Alcohol can cause you to become dizzy, stumble when you walk when I never lost my balance walking on cannabis. I'm not saying you should be allowed to drive while high, I'm saying some studies should be done to determine what is reasonable. Like I said you can drink a little bit and drive, as long as you're not over the .08 and alcohol does impair you much more than cannabis does. Also they need to figure out a way to properly evaluate if someone is currently high and how high they are.

[RainDog]

28. 18 for marijuana and alcohol, imo n/t

[grahamhgreen]

31. Yes - 21

[krabigirl]

32. I think both should be 18. In the meantime, yes, keep the same laws as alcohol.

[astral]

33. It's not true that it was 'totally legal' in Alaska

It was just that the Alaska Constitution was strongly written like the US Constitution and it was taken kind of seriously, i.e., not 'a goddamned piece of paper.'

But it was not a real big deal to be caught with it. It was never legal to buy it or sell it.

[asdjrocky]

34. Prop 19 is for 21 and older. nt