I was thinking about how 16 year olds in England are full adults, the idea that teens can decide their own medical care and move out without parental consent sounds amazing and could have honestly saved the lives of some kids I went to high school with. letting 16 teen year olds vote too makes sense since the obviously have a stake in the future more so than older people I would say. On the other hand the idea of 16 year olds binge drinking and being with older adults, and god forbid getting married to adults turns my stomach. I know we have some users from England so I am curious to hear your thoughts. I guess my instinct is to stagger everything at the appropriate ages. honestly sometimes i think 18 is too young to get married lol.
Recreational drug age limit from 16 to 25 is too young imo
There's quite a few studies that show weed harms brain development if regularly used before the brain is fully developed
And in general, risky behavior (addiction!) vastly does down after the brain fully develops
I think only alcohol should be legal at 16-18 only because it's there's so much social activity and culture around it but anything else should be 25+ imo
https://slate.com/technology/2022/11/brain-development-25-year-old-mature-myth.html
I don't think something magical happens at 25 like a light switch but we still gotta choose some age as a limit
Do we need to though?
We could also use frequency of use and settings as alternative (which might legally increase by age). Personally I don't let people smoke with me till they are 27 or so, which is somewhat ageist, but I accept them if they bring their own stuff before (tolerate, but not enable).