Coming of age
In the United States, teenagers are allowed to drive at 16 in all states except New Jersey, which requires drivers to be 17 and older, and sometimes receive the responsibility of owning their own car. Teenagers may drive at age 15 in Idaho and Montana. At 16, teenagers are also old enough to donate blood and work in most establishments. At 18 one is legally considered an adult and can vote and join the military. The legal age for purchasing and consuming alcohol and recreational marijuana, the latter of which is only legal in the District of Columbia, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Alaska, is 21. The legal age for purchasing and consuming tobacco products is 18 in most states; 19 in Alabama, Alaska and Utah; and 21 in California, New Jersey, Oregon, Hawaii and Maine. Multiple localities have also raised the minimum purchase age independent of state laws.
Curtis Jones (law)
While most states in the United States typically try juveniles under the age of 18 in a separate juvenile court, there is legal precedent of the age of majority being considered as 16 for some heinous crimes. For example, in Kentucky, the lowest age a juvenile may be tried as an adult, no matter how heinous the crime, is 14. The trial and subsequent conviction of a 12-year old in the United States is considered a rare (but not entirely unique) case.