"You mean you've never broken the law once..."

[Miyon]

I live in Ohio and its been 21 to buy alcohol since I was 16. thats about 20 yrs ago. I remember because my sister, at the time 18, was grandfathered in.
But at that time it was state by state and you could drive to Indiana which was still 18.
But it is now a federal law for all states that the age is 21. (Im 99% positive on this)

As for parents buying with children that look old enough. In the last 2 years parents have been heavily fined, and some jailed, for having indoor alcohol drinking parties for their underage kids because the parents thought it was better for them to drink in a safe place then out on the town.

So the law doesn't just stop possibly at buying alcohol for a minor but also letting them drink alcohol in their own home.

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2...4152008/371401
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...060802795.html
http://technorati.com/videos/youtube...%3D-d0-ZshnjtE (same case as above but on cnn)

[Mr Yuck]

Here in Kansas you can buy alcohol if your child is with you, but you can not even enter a liquor store if you are under 21.
The grocery and convenience stores only sell beer and wine coolers here, and by beer it's generally only the macro's like Miller, Bud, Coors products......and only 3.2 beer.

I remember when I lived in Wisconsin that it was forever before they raised the drinking age to 21, and the thing that really prompted the change was underage kids from Illinois getting drunk in Wisconsin and crashing on the way home.

[Evil Queen]

In some states, you can be any age to be a bartender.

[Snowbird]

The customer and her daughter's attitudes were sucky, I agree.

I think the thing that boggles me is that this seems to be a line of sight law. If the 17 year old is brought along shopping, they are required to be banished to the car if the parent purchases alcohol, because it might be bought for them. However, that same parent who bought the alcohol then takes their purchase back to the car where their 17 year old is waiting.

So, basically, the law becomes an annoying inconvenience to those parents that forget to plan ahead and leave their child in the car, even if they are the sort that does not allow their child to imbibe, and an easy loophole for parents that do.

I feel for the clerks that have to deal with the levels of suck that has to come up from that little gem.

[Amina516]

That law doesnt make sense to me either. I've been carded when I was with friends in the liquor store but when Ive been with mom or MIL and I was 19ish, I was never carded.

Im pretty sure the drinking age is now 21 as a federal law. I know that it used to be 18 back a long while ago.

[Boggles]

In the UK I don't think we have this law

You need to be 18 to buy booze but I have never heard a mum and child being refused.

We kind of have something similar.

You have to be 18 to buy booze but if the cashier suspects you are buying on behalf of a minor they have to refuse the sale.
We have quite a problem with kids hanging around outside wanting adults to buy them booze/cigs but if we serve the adult and know they will pass it on to the kid, we can be prosecuted.

[crazylegs]

We have quite a problem with kids hanging around outside wanting adults to buy them booze/cigs but if we serve the adult and know they will pass it on to the kid, we can be prosecuted.

£80 PND anyone?

It's called proxy purchase, and is one of the hardest things to stop. I can't seem to come up with a solution with the Off licences on patch, short of installing CCTV on the exterior of all offies to watch any kids loitering, but that's a little draconian.

[Tanasi]

Here in US the drinking age is controlled by the individual states as the Federal Government doesn't have authority under the 10th admendment, but the Federal Government doesn't have to give any funds to any state that doesn't follow their wishes. The Federal Government only has authority to regulate the drinking age at Federally controlled facilities and property, hence they can change the drinking age in DC but not in Maryland or VA. Here the drinking age changed in 84 from 18 to 19 and the next year to 21. I distinctly remember this because I caught my future wife drinking in the dormitory I ran, if she hadn't been grandfathered in she would also been busted busted for underage consumption.

[tamezin]

If I had sold the wine to that woman with her daughter standing there I could have been fined and possibly fired. Put simply, if you're of the age to drink in the state of Vermont and you have people who look old enough to get carded with you don't bring them in with you.

There are a few stores (chain and or big box) in my area that will do this, it is frustrating, becasue I know in another year or so, I won't be able to take my daughter shopping with me. I already can't take my nephew, (which really sucks, because he drives me half the time) he has to wait in the car when I am picking up BBQ supplies.

[CoffeeMonkey]

Back when I worked at 7-11, we could sell to parents with their children. The awkward part is how do you know that the minor is their kid? Asking for the ID of the child would get an annoyed "thats my kid!" from the parents, and required an apology from me and a hasty ringing of the beer. But it's not like I can demand to see proof that this is their spawn and not a much younger friend, coworker, or even some random kid they're buying for.

[bainsidhe]

In my store I only need to card the one purchasing the alcohol. If you're with your 7 year-old, I'm not going to bother carding the whole party. But by law I'm required to deny the sale if I suspect a 3rd party purchase. So if you're with your teenage child or underage friend, I'm required to ask. I risk a heavy fine and losing my job if I don't. Not worth it. And once those magic words leave my lips, no amount of whining or arguing is going to change my mind. If I did it for you, I'd have to do it for other people as well.

And yeah, you could just go to the next store down the lane because they aren't such a stickler for the law. Thing is, they're also more likely to get caught and fined (my store has been before). So not worth it, I'll keep carding and being a bitch, thank you.

[Anriana]

Is it just me or does this law not make sense to anyone else?

I mean, common.... two teens in a store, one is old enough, the other isn't. Both go in, are refused.... next store... one gets in, gets the booze and they drink.

While I agree that this law (and most of the drinking age related laws) are silly, that doesn't change the fact that cashiers are legally obligated to enforce it.

[powerboy]

I do not think that is fair to have 21 as the legal age. The 18 year old can be drafted to kill or be killed. He can serve as many tours of that war for how ever many times. And yet he cannot drink because he or she is 18. I can understand where they are coming from (safety issues), but still

[nomorecarts]

I do not think that is fair to have 21 as the legal age. The 18 year old can be drafted to kill or be killed. He can serve as many tours of that war for how ever many times. And yet he cannot drink because he or she is 18. I can understand where they are coming from (safety issues), but still

they used to be allowed to drink on post, but too many idiots got in trouble off post


in Alaska you can serve alcohol to your kids in your home, but what's the point of drinking with your parents?

[NateTheChops]

While I agree that this law (and most of the drinking age related laws) are silly, that doesn't change the fact that cashiers are legally obligated to enforce it.

The thing is a cashier in my store all ready got fined once for failing a sting operation. A cashier from another store back when we were still Brooks was fired the year before for failing a sting operation and was rehired at our store a year later. Those were for tobacco related sales and the fine was about $100 each.

I know for a fact that alcohol related stings are far stricter and I just can't afford it. It's worth it for me to be a stickler to the rules and say no to two customers who will not be paying my rent or my bills if I get fired.