How old do you have to be to buy condoms?

Condoms are safe, and they do not have practically any physical or psychological harm. It means that people of any age can buy and enjoy condoms. Since they are contraceptives for males, they might be useless for those who cannot have sex due to age factors. They might be irrelevant for young children and even for some very old adults living with severe impotence. At what age can one buy condoms will depend more on the age at which one can consent to have sex at his or her free will. Those who are starting to have sex, condoms may be the right choice due to their numerous benefits over other methods of contraception.

The legal age of sexual consent and condoms use

Though there is no law prohibiting anyone from buying condoms, there is no purpose of buying them if one has not achieved the legal age for sex. It is vital to understand when one can have sex legally so that to avoid troubles. It is not that easy to know as almost every state in the US has different law. Globally, the most common age of sexual consent is 18 years or even above (21 in some nations). So, those wanting to buy condoms must know that they can buy condoms even if they are quite young. However, before using them for sexual activity, it is better to know a few legal things about the US. Age of consent - it is the age at which people can start making their own decisions about having sex with others, and do not require permission from anyone, and can have sex under any circumstance. In the US, this age is from 16 to 18 years, depending on the state. Minimum age of victim - since we know that many teenagers are having sex, and some start at quite a young age, thus there is something called the minimum age of the victim. Individuals below this age have no right to consent for sex under any circumstances. This age is between 12 to 18, again depending on the state. For example, it is 12 in Alabama, but 18 in California. This may help them stay away from many troubles like sexually transmitted diseases, unplanned pregnancies. Scientific Facts That said, there are little-known scientific facts related to condoms. Here are some of them. High Failure Rate Although condoms are the most common method of contraception all over the world, their efficiency has been challenged. In fact, the effectiveness of condoms are just overstated by promoters. According to Contraceptive Technology, 52% is the probability of at least one failure. Moreover, a total of 7.1% failure rate was determined after 22 major studies involving 40,000 condoms used in 5 different countries involving heterosexual intercourse. Exposure To Disease Sexually active adults and youths are allegedly exposed to disease regularly unless partners are disease-free. That is due to the high failure rate of condoms. So if their partners are disease-free, there is no need to use condom for disease protection. At the same time, condoms are not capable of eliminating the risk of HIV when used by those who practice high-risk behaviors like sodomy and promiscuity. At the same time, they can’t protect people from skin-to-skin contact like HPV and herpes. Do Not Protect Well Against Pregnancy Condoms have a failure rate of 15% when used within a year, risking women with partners who use them for contraception. After 2 years, the risk of pregnancy rises to 28%. Consequently, it increases to 39% after 3 years, 48% after 4 years, and 56% after 5 years. Such figures are taken from studies of committed couples who used new and properly-stored condoms, women with multiple partners, and poor people using improperly-stored and expired condoms.