I don&#x27;t get your point. The (US) drinking age is not tied to the age of majority or most other societal indicators of &quot;adulthood.&quot;<p>Unless your post means to say we should probably drop the drinking age.  I&#x27;d agree it&#x27;s pinned higher than maturity curve of youths, and personally find the illegality to encourage a debauched form of underage drinking. But I don&#x27;t really see how that&#x27;s here or there.<p>re, your edit: Are you saying that by some developmental model 17 year olds should not be asked to rise to the standards of behaviour expected of adults? Please elaborate.