[TalnSG]

I was allowed to taste my parent's alcohol as soon as I could ask for it. Touring europe at the ripe old age of 5, I had my first wine and beer. The wine was watered, as it is for most children. I remember spitting out my first sip of Mom's bourbon and never going past a sniff of Dad's martinis, except to raid the glass of olives.

Permissiveness in a controlled environment can teach lessons very effectively as well as remove the allure of the "forbidden". However, I am a staunch advocate of age limits on public consumption, despite having broken them in high school. In Mississippi alcohol was cheap and available to anyone who could hand over the cash and it ruined several of my friends. I found that in less urban areas the enforcement of drinking laws tends to relax quite a bit.

In Dallas or Houston, getting it from a store without good ID is too risky for the stores and the customer. The penalties are high and there are a lot of police checking on possible violations.

As for cigarettes, sorry I think they should be banned unless you can smoke them without exhaling.