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British Parants and other adults take note

Doncaster, S Yorks
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10,270 posts
3 reviews
15 helpful votes
British Parants and other adults take note
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Did you see CBS News last night.

Where a mother of some boys who were under the legal age of 21 to buy and drink alcohol was jailed for 27 months.

The sentence was given because she as an "Adult " supplied Booze to "Minors" for a party .

And allowed it to take place "In her "Own Home".

Se told the court she had done this to stop the 18 and 20 year old getting it illegally and going out and drinking it where they hang out with their mates.

So they would not be driving and on the public highways, under age, and under the influence threatening others lives

She managed to get a reduced sentence but still has to serve 20 months.

It would seem some districts have patrols out looking for just such parties and places where the underage hang out drinking.

It did say how many states have this law, Florida being one.

But it is now being considered to make it a law in every state.

The police patrols would have a field day over here there would hardly be a club pub or off licence left open.

Club owners & Licenced victuallers would be up in alms. but ( behind bars)

West Yorks
Level Contributor
85 posts
1. Re: British Parants and other adults take note
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What are the laws about drinking there?

Can you drink at all under the age of 21?

I will be 17 while there and sometimes at home I share wine with my mum.

What is allowed there?

Illinois
Level Contributor
2,874 posts
42 reviews
54 helpful votes
2. Re: British Parants and other adults take note
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The legal drinking age in every state in the U.S. is 21. Liquor stores and restaurants enforce this by checking IDs of anyone who looks under the age of 35.

Bradenton, Florida
Level Contributor
5,427 posts
24 reviews
28 helpful votes
3. Re: British Parants and other adults take note
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No alcohol under 21.

liverpool uk
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132 posts
1 review
12 helpful votes
4. Re: British Parants and other adults take note
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hi xr

as an owner of a franchised off licence believe me i would not be up in arms at all. monitoring under age sales is something we take VERY seriously and monitor strictly. all our staff have to take a four week traing package and then be tested on licencing law as a reqiurement of working in our store refreshed every 3 months . every time the do not see id if someone does not look over 21 they have to record it in a refusals book i have spent over £5000 on a cctv system which records every sale so we can check what is being sold to who, i can also watch from home on this laptop in fact i can watch any where in the world where there is broadband.

i am fed up telling our local police and trading standards that there is a BIG problem of adults who will come into to stores to buy for under age kids who have asked them to "proxy purchase" for them (i have numerous instances stored on the hard drive of the cctv system) but for reasons unknown to me and other store owners nothing seems to be done about this

please dont think all licenced busines's are like the minority that make the press because they have been caught on a test purchase because believe me we are not

Doncaster, S Yorks
Level Contributor
10,270 posts
3 reviews
15 helpful votes
5. Re: British Parants and other adults take note
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Paulc2521; I do agree with you that a big problem here is that of Adults who are old enough to buy Alcohol; and cigarettes are suppliers Minors.

In the US this is a punishable offence .And this is what that mother was mainly done for.

If the boys had got it themselves illegally the sentence might not have been as big.

The one thing the the government could do is to make supplying to minors illegal.

Mind you someone who is very near to me, her kids before they were left school were going int clubs in Donny at weekend and buying whatever booze and fags they wanted, and still are and they are not 18 till Christmas.

UK
Destination Expert
for Florida
Level Contributor
52,114 posts
20 reviews
18 helpful votes
6. Re: British Parants and other adults take note
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All British parents out there do take this to heart, as you can be prosecuted. The mistake this parent made was to allow a party where children (not her own) were served without their parents permission and were turned in and made an example of.

I myself have my own views about his new puritain system, and do feel that the original intention of getting alcohol out of the high schools was not very well thought through.

I am american citizen, and grew up in the US when the stardard law/practice in most states was that beer and wine could be consumed/bought from age 18, and spirits/fortified wines etc was 21. the max for beer was 3.2 % alcohol. given that a proprotion of teens will be age 18 before leaving their last year of school (grade 12) they thought that this would stop teens drinking.

It hasn't. And they either get it illegally thru forged ID, paying proxy adults, crooked stores, friends, parents at home, etc. They therefore drive to get it, drink outside wherever, and are generally unsafe. This does not take into account ( I have never seen a study done) as to how many 18-20 yr olds will look to cannabis or other drugs as they are equally illegal rather than choosing a beer like they migh have before the change.

They are deemed old enough to be adults in that they can vote for a president, can join the armed forces and die on a foreign field, and can get married, or can generally have sexual relations with another consenting adult. You can be held accountable as an adult, and executed for a capital crime from the age of 16 or younger in some states.

I find most if not all of these activites are more needing of adult responsibility than drinking a 3.2% beer in a controlled home setting myself. And there is now more profit to be made by irresposible adults (ie proxys, stores or drug dealers) than there would be if they either started school at age 4-5 insted of 5-6, or made the legal age to drink beero or wine 19. Both of these measures would have taken alcohol out of a school environment as well. And this doesn;t take into account the caseof a mother thinking she might be more protective of her child drinking where she could keep a watch over him and keep hom and others safe. What if he'd gone out to drink and killed someone in the family car? Would he/she have gotten less time in jail than their mother?

Think about it, it isn't until your 3rd to 4th year of university before you can legally drink a beer there now. Just plain stupid IMHO.

Essex UK
Level Contributor
90 posts
5 reviews
7 helpful votes
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Don't know if this is still the case but on our very first visit in '93 we went into a supermarket to do some food shopping. We also had a pack of 4 beers which my then 5 year old was carrying to the check out for us. I remember the lady at the checkout telling us he should not even be carrying the alcohol and that when we got back to our car it should be packed in the boot (trunk?!!) of the car. This took us by surprise but we did as we were advised and have done so on every visit since.

Our children are now grown up (19 and 22) and only the oldest has ever been able to enjoy an alcoholic beverage while on holiday stateside ;) and that was on her 21st birthday in New York!

Debs

The Bakery
Level Contributor
9,526 posts
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Many states have laws about alcohol being locked in the trunk AND in some states, there are no open container allowed even locked in the trunk! The police generally have more than enough to do getting drunks off the road, but it's the kind of thing that can cause problems if you're stopped for some other infraction.

My personal opinion, that sentence was wildly excessive. Unfortunately, there have been deaths at parties for the under age where kids have dies of alcohol poisoning and interaction in prescription drugs. It was very foolish and she was lucky no tragedy did occur. It seems every year we have a number of underage drinking parties thrown at fraternities and other places at various colleges where alcohol poisoning has caused deaths and serious illness, sometimes permanent damage. The police take a VERY dim view of things.

All that said, we are once again considering lowering the drinking age to 18.

Lincoln, United...
Level Contributor
293 posts
9. Re: British Parants and other adults take note
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Hi XR759.

Thanks for pointing this out.

We go to Florida 1st of Nov this year. We are taking my youngest now 18 yrs old and his friend who is 21.

Does this mean then that if we go shopping and purchase beer and some wine (for my wife), and take it back to the villa, is my 18 yr old son allowed to consume the beer inside the Villa that we have rented or around the pool area.

I would like to clarify this point before we go.

Thanks to all who help in response to this matter.

UK
Destination Expert
for Florida
Level Contributor
52,114 posts
20 reviews
18 helpful votes
10. Re: British Parants and other adults take note
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Personally,

I think they should lower it to at least 19 if not 18. There were alcohol poisoning incidents at college when I was there and drinking was allowed- excess is excess. I think there are maybe more now- who knows.

One big thing I did notice was, I went to university in the south. A lot of the local kids had little or no experience in drinking/knowing thier limits. Those of us from up north or places where drinking was acceptable (ie not prohibited due to religion) actually drank less when we did drink. So we got into less trouble, less accidents etc than those who were let on the loose for the first time with no parents around to notice. In Europe, kids have small amounts of alcohol from a much younger age as part of a meal, and I believe that attitude helps with binge drinking (ie drinking to get as drunk as possible). Just something to think about.

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