Contradictory Government Set Age Requirements.
government has set up some very inconsistent age requirements that tells its citizens when they can take part in certain activities. There are laws that say when people can purchase or consume alcohol, purchase or smoke cigarettes, gamble, rent an automobile; at the same time, people do not know when they can consider themselves as adults. This paper will explore different age restricting laws in life and show how contradictory and inconsistent these age requirement laws are.
First of all, the most inconsistent age requirement law is that a person must be 21 to purchase and consume alcohol. What is significant about the age 21? At this age, immaturity is gone, left behind in the days of high school. Most people are in college, possibly in their third year, or working for a living. Many of these college students under the age of 21 are involved in the consumption of alcohol anyhow. When stepping into college or the work force, people are treated like adults immediately and have major responsibilities that must be tended to. Handling alcohol is indeed a major responsibility, one that can be handled directly out of high school. A better and more consistent age to consume alcohol is 18. Laws against abusive drinking are very strict the way they are, especially against drinking and driving. Everyone knows about this law, and many people hand over their car keys to a sober friend because of the fear of the strong consequences that come along with drinking and driving. With the legal drinking age at 18, police officers can shift their focus more on drinking and driving issues rather than busting underage drinkers. Just as the drinking age was 18 before the 1970's, it should be the same now along with strict penalties for abusing the right of drinking.
Another inconsistent age requirement law is that you must be 18 to purchase or smoke cigarettes.