That’s just a US quirk. In many countries you can buy alcohol when you’re 18+.

It’s odd that you can do everything but drink. Like you can go to work, drive home to your wife and kids, but can’t have a beer lol.

> That’s just a US quirk

My understanding is it’s because of car culture. Drunk-driving deaths drove up the drinking age [1].

	▲	lokar 4 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Also it would increase illegal transfer of alcohol to underage peers, in theory. But high school kids who want beer have no major problems getting already. It’s up to each state, but the federal government threatens funding if they get out of line.
	▲	Aeolun 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		They could fix this by lowering the drinking age. Not by raising it. If you have two years of experience being drunk and then start driving you know exactly what you are in for. If you’ve been confidently driving for years and then suddenly pair that with alcohol… complete opposite effect.