(Newswire.net — October 24, 2018) — The U.S. and the UK share a close relationship and have done for many decades now. They are political allies and major trading partners, but they also share a similar entertainment industry and are closely connected in cultural terms as well. However, for all the similarities, there are some huge differences between these two countries and some of the most surprising of these differences is in relation to national and local laws.
Minimum Ages
Drinking is a rite of passage in many western cultures, but the laws on when that first drink becomes legal can differ quite considerably. In the UK, you have to be 18, but most teens experience their first public drink at the age of 13 and 14. Underage drinking has been a big issue here for years and while it is on the decline after peaking in the late 90s and early 2000s (with few servers even asking for ID), it is still a big issue.
In the U.S., you need to be 21. Teenagers still drink when they are younger and in some towns they can get away with doing it in public, but the penalties are much more severe both for the drinkers and the servers (you cold lose your license and be fined heavily for furnishing alcohol to a minor), which means it is less of an issue.
Gambling
In the U.S. you can walk into a commercial casino at the age of 21 and gamble freely, but you’ll struggle to find sports betting and other forms of gambling, and in most states you’ll struggle to find anything outside of casinos. The UK has a much more open attitude to gambling. Not only is it advertised freely, but there are “bookmakers” taking bets on sports, interactive games, and slot machines in every high-street.
You only need to be 18 to gamble in the UK, but you can buy scratchcards and lottery tickets aged just 16, which is almost inconceivable to someone in the U.S.
Advertising
The idea of gambling being advertised freely in the UK might come as a surprise to people in the U.S., but it works both ways. One of the biggest surprises that UK tourists report when visiting the U.S. is the fact that medications are advertised freely on TV and billboards, a practice that is outlawed in the United Kingdom.
In fact, any claims regarding the efficiency of a supplement or the benefits of a substance can result in severe penalties in the UK, while such claims are made freely stateside.
Life and Death Sentences
In the U.S. a life sentence means life, and the only time this is not the case is when the judge specifies a broad sentence such as “25 years to life”. In the UK, it is supposed to mean the same thing, but in reality it’s much more complicated and the average sentence served by someone who is given life is 15 years. That’s because they are still offered a chance of parole, eve though it results in many murderers and multiple murderers being set free.
What’s more, while some U.S. states have a “3 strikes” policy and others will factor in multiple convictions, in the UK it’s not unusual to encounter someone with hundreds of convictions who has never spent more than a year in prison. There are also no death sentences in the UK, with the last person being put to death over 50 years ago.