So I'm turning 18

[Wes Mantooth]

Well you're one step closer to 21

[Bassus Sanguinis]

Q: what great is there anyway at any age?

A: You. Start from that, and You'll be fine.

[tuffteef]

your penis has finished growing its wings!




NOW GO FORTH AND POLLINATE!

[Bassus Sanguinis]

in Finland 18b is the full accomplishment:

You are, legally, fully independent grown up and answer Yourself for anything You do.

You are allowed to get a drivers licence for a car. You probably have to still stick to the slower speed limits and check back in a year for the winter driving control.

You can go to liquer store or bar (though some bars/restaurants/clubs don't allow in customers who haven't already learned to drink)

You get to vote, too, in the Local election, the Parliament election, and the Presidental election. You can also file for an canditate for any of the above.

If You are a young man, You are also boud to conscription for military service until served in full or You turn 27 years old before that (happens hardly ever, they try to make sure of that). Or You take up longer alternative service or go to jail for the half of Your military service time not served yet.

[ryan summit]

so,in finland, you can opt to go to jail(half time) instead of the military?
how long is the mandatory service?
also, what is the winter driving control?
sorry, other countries fascinate me.
whats your gun and drug laws like over there?
we got it easy here,when you turn 18 you sign up for a nonexistant draft
you can smoke,but you cant drink

[snipelfritz]

I'm not sure but I got the impression it's kinda like our draft (at least how it was, when it was used) where it's a lottery, except the need is probably so low.

And I don't think I ever even returned my selective service thingy or whatever. However, I'm registered to vote and have a drivers license and all that shit, and one of those (I think voting) is essentially what they use anyway. Either way I've got a golden ticket for getting out of that shit (hooray mental illness!).

[Bassus Sanguinis]

so,in finland, you can opt to go to jail(half time) instead of the military?
how long is the mandatory service?
also, what is the winter driving control?
sorry, other countries fascinate me.
whats your gun and drug laws like over there?
we got it easy here,when you turn 18 you sign up for a nonexistant draft
you can smoke,but you cant drink

Nowadays, You can get away with only six months military service, or nine or twelve. Depending on Your chosen/pointed batallion. And the alternative service is only twelve months. Anybody who steps off the military train will be assigned to the alternative service, so the jail option isn't three months even if YOu got short military training program and decided to simply say fuck You all. They make it still six month inside for You. The UN and Amnesty international have both criticized quite a few times that not to be a real alternative since the service times aren't equal. Women can go to military as volunteers, but if they decide it's too much for them, the same laws about the alternative service/jail applies.

I was close to go to jail when I decided I don't feel like going to the armed forces as a paratrooper/ jäger. They pointed me there because of my martial arts and archery background and though I know as a fact that many guys want to go there to proove themselves, I wasn't into it a bit. It was the Early 1990s recession in Finland, family business went bankrupt and I felt I'd make a better investment for the country, too, if I worked in the public healthcare/ social sector instead of palying war in bushes.

Winter driving control is the so called second phase of a drivers licence, You have to pass that in one year after the initial driving license or th license is void. Your driving skills are first tested on an ice track to prove control of a vehicle on ice and snow, without hitting the cones. And then driving in traffic in middle of winter. Passing the tests You get rid of the novice speed limit (max 80kmh = 49 mph).

Guns are under pretty tight control, to buy a rifle You have to prove You are a hunter or to buy a handgun You have to be a member of a shooting club. It has also been suggested that the guns would in future have to be stored in the shooting range premises. New laws on especially handguns are under parliament work. But shooting incidents with un-licensed guns in Finland are kinda rare so it's apparently working.

Drugs... alcohol is sold as government monopoly and all other drugs are prohibited. Medicinal cannibis is a hot topic in table conversation, and legislation is famously outdated on taht if anybody asks me. Homebrewing is allowed for Your own use, or You can try to get a licence for a brewery or a wine farm, pay the taxes and stuff. And in the big cities, Police tends to let You go if they catch You with a small amount of grass that You are likely smoking Yourself. Unless You are suspect of drug related crimes. Smoking plain cigarettes used to be in my adolescence allowed when You turn 16, now the age is 18.