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Legal drinking age?

What should the legal drinking age be?

  • Bring back Prohibition.

    Votes: 4 4.3%

  • Older than 21. Raise it even higher!

    Votes: 2 2.2%

  • Leave it at 21 (in the USA).

    Votes: 17 18.5%

  • 20

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 19

    Votes: 1 1.1%

  • 18

    Votes: 44 47.8%

  • 17

    Votes: 2 2.2%

  • 16

    Votes: 4 4.3%

  • Below 16.

    Votes: 3 3.3%

  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 15 16.3%
  • Total voters
    92
Carjosse said:
No, Americans really are uptight. Go try France or Qubec and B.C.. We don't believe that we should shelter children form anything that could even remotely be seen as harmful. They are goign to do it anyways.
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I'm just talking about drinking right now. Also, I don't live in any of those nations, so I can't speak for them.
 
shrubnose said:
No doubt that's one reason, another one is that young men think that they will live forever and will do things that older men will not.
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So true, SN....

I get it that drinking for about 80% of the population isn't usually problematic on an individual level.

But the other 20% of the population cost American's alone billions of dollars due to the destructive behaviors that has a relationship to drinking alcohol. Life and death issues related to alcohol are daily occurrences. Prisons are filled with people who are their because of alcohol.

We don't live in glass boxes. Societies at large aren't exempt from the wreckage caused by a small portion of a given society.

Younger people are the most susceptible to potential problems associated with drinking. I know, I know..."potential problems"...sucks saying it, but in the case of drinking, it doesn't hurt to at least be aware...especially for parents who want to try to instill "responsible drinking" behaviors in their kids.

I posted a link on post #70. Now it's slightly outdated, but it defines core issues related to underage drinking. I know people hate reading things like the PDF that I listed. They're lengthy, etc. But scanning it does really open up some genuine issues that people don't usually think about, or feel any sense of concern about...until they become affected by one or more problems shown in link.

Anyway...thanks...
 
21 is absurd, I remember in Basra underage US soldiers would come over and steal beer of us. Always amused me.
 
Don't understand the logic of a 21 limit. Why on earth would this responsibility and choice of adulthood be delayed beyond all others?
 
Durin said:
The current legal age to purchase alcohol in each state is 21, some states ban consumption of alcohol by those under 21, while others allow it to be consumed with parental permission. Either way I think it should be lowered to 18. Nobody should be able to risk dying for this country and be denied a beer. If you think people are too immature at 18 to drink, they are too immature to join the military or handle weapons. Either we need to increase the age to join the military, or lower the drinking age.
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Everyone at 18 should have done what my old man did to me. Get them really skunked on Sake and see how long it takes for them to drink again.
 
Ben K. said:
Don't understand the logic of a 21 limit. Why on earth would this responsibility and choice of adulthood be delayed beyond all others?
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Seems to be a cultural thing in regards to the US, its also seem to vary on where you are in the US. In New hampshire for example the bars close at 1am and they are strict on how much you can actually drink but then you go to NYC and you can get smashed and drink until the early hours.
 
Higgins86 said:
Seems to be a cultural thing in regards to the US, its also seem to vary on where you are in the US. In New hampshire for example the bars close at 1am and they are strict on how much you can actually drink but then you go to NYC and you can get smashed and drink until the early hours.
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Maybe drinking at 18 turns you socialist? ;). Seriously though youre right, the UK and Ireland are demonstrative of the fact that culture dictates an unhealthy drinking habit rather than legal age, when compared to our continental cousins.

Anyway within the anglosphere the "late bloomers"in my experience are the most irresponsible with booze.
 
Ben K. said:
Maybe drinking at 18 turns you socialist? ;). Seriously though youre right, the UK and Ireland are demonstrative of the fact that culture dictates an unhealthy drinking habit rather than legal age, when compared to our continental cousins.

Anyway within the anglosphere the "late bloomers"in my experience are the most irresponsible with booze.
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Yep I remember when labour introduced 24 hour drinking hours thinking it would slow down the binge drinking instead we saw it as a challenge to drink till breakfast.
Biggest thing I missed when I moved to the US was being able to drink outside like having a bottle of wine for a picnic, few beers at the beach etc. They are very strict about that.
 
Van Basten said:
I'm just talking about drinking right now. Also, I don't live in any of those nations, so I can't speak for them.
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Oh you should. It's interesting to see how every little facet of life and people's attitudes change from country to country.

Higgins86 said:
Yep I remember when labour introduced 24 hour drinking hours thinking it would slow down the binge drinking instead we saw it as a challenge to drink till breakfast.
Biggest thing I missed when I moved to the US was being able to drink outside like having a bottle of wine for a picnic, few beers at the beach etc. They are very strict about that.
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Ohhh. In respect to this, I have never found it more refreshing to be able to get a beer shandy with company and then find an open spot in the park overlooking a river on a warm spring morning. Just absolutely more than pleasurable. I hate not being able to do this.
 
Ben K. said:
Maybe drinking at 18 turns you socialist? ;). Seriously though youre right, the UK and Ireland are demonstrative of the fact that culture dictates an unhealthy drinking habit rather than legal age, when compared to our continental cousins.

Anyway within the anglosphere the "late bloomers"in my experience are the most irresponsible with booze.
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Hell, Ben, your from Ireland. Babies are bottle fed pints of ale. So like there and other European countries....wine is a daily thing. But here in the good old USA...it'a all about getting buzzed a special occasions like Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, my birthday, your birthday, Hitler's birthday, Easter Bunny Day...sunny days, cloudy days...day, night, by ourselves, with somebody...but other than that...Americans rarely drink. ;)
 
If you're old enough to work for a living and be held legally and financially liable for your decisions, you're old enough to make your own decisions.
 
Durin said:
The current legal age to purchase alcohol in each state is 21, some states ban consumption of alcohol by those under 21, while others allow it to be consumed with parental permission. Either way I think it should be lowered to 18. Nobody should be able to risk dying for this country and be denied a beer. If you think people are too immature at 18 to drink, they are too immature to join the military or handle weapons. Either we need to increase the age to join the military, or lower the drinking age.
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The age to legally purchase alcohol should be raised to 65, unless the seller is at least 65. That way, if Social Security goes down the drain, the seniors can get into the alcohol business and have a great monopoly. We'd make more than we ever would on SS anyway.
 
The legal age should be 18 IMO. You can vote, buy cigarettes, go into combat, get married, live on your own, why not buy alcohol. Makes zero sense to me why it is older then 18.
 
I always liked the concept of 3.2% beer for 18 year olds.

It takes a bit of trying to get drunk on 3.2 beer, but more importantly, you can have a bar and club culture for younger kids who can learn to drink more responsibly.

I'm not sure what it does for auto fatalities -probably somewhere in between full legalization at 18 and 21, but it seems like a decent compromise. We all know college age kids drink, and do it often. Make it easier for them to do it, but harder for them to get drunk.
 
I am in military and from my perspective, its a tough call. I am fine where the drinking age is at right now. Most 18 year olds in the military are just coming out of basic military training. Many that I have meet are still kids by all intensive purposes. They are grown up enough to learn and do a job, but I don't think they are mature enough to consume alcohol. Hell, even a lot of 21+ year olds are not mature enough to consume alcohol. If military kids right out of technical training could drink, oh lord!! It would be a mess!
 
Capster78 said:
I am in military and from my perspective, its a tough call. I am fine where the drinking age is at right now. Most 18 year olds in the military are just coming out of basic military training. Many that I have meet are still kids by all intensive purposes. They are grown up enough to learn and do a job, but I don't think they are mature enough to consume alcohol. Hell, even a lot of 21+ year olds are not mature enough to consume alcohol. If military kids right out of technical training could drink, oh lord!! It would be a mess!
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Funny, though.
 
shrubnose said:
Quite simply wrong.

Raising the drinking age to 21 lowered traffic accidents and related deaths all over the USA.

No one is forced to join the USA's all-volunteer military.

Allowing young people to drink alcohol is a totally unrelated issue which impacts everyone who uses our nation's highway's and roads.

Case closed as far as I'm concerned.
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Expect for the fact they have to sign up for selective services and can draft at anytime.
 
cpgrad08 said:
Expect for the fact they have to sign up for selective services and can draft at anytime.
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The USA is not likely to use the draft anytime soon.

We can cross that bridge when we come to it.

The USA's legal alcohol sales age will not be lowered anytime soon.
 
AliHajiSheik said:
How about: You can drink or drive between 18 and 21: pick one.
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Since I still don't have a license in my thirties, I'd pick the drinking. But in reality, teens still do both and it is more likely that they would be doing both when unsupervised because they are trying to hide their drinking and/or have no one to show them how to drink responsibly rather than restricting them from drinking til they are out of their parents' house, likely in college, where most of the drinking is going to be at parties and is going to be majorly irresponsible.
 
Capster78 said:
I am in military and from my perspective, its a tough call. I am fine where the drinking age is at right now. Most 18 year olds in the military are just coming out of basic military training. Many that I have meet are still kids by all intensive purposes. They are grown up enough to learn and do a job, but I don't think they are mature enough to consume alcohol. Hell, even a lot of 21+ year olds are not mature enough to consume alcohol. If military kids right out of technical training could drink, oh lord!! It would be a mess!
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Having been that 18 year old in the military, I can tell you that we don't wait til we are 21 to drink. I was drinking while in school (my school was 18 months long, part of which was in an area where every student lived offbase, in our own apartments/houses in NY for 6 months, lots of parties, and many of us lived with someone who was old enough to purchase alcohol). Most 18 year olds are more than capable of drinking responsibly. Sure there are some idiots who can't, but they are going to do it whether the law says they should or not. The guy we had drown while in school wasn't saved because of the current drinking laws and stronger enforcement wouldn't have done squat. Underage drinking wasn't responsible for his death, drinking and doing something stupid was, something which is not limited by age. We tried prohibition. It failed miserably.
 
By age 21, young people can buy alcohol, tobacco, vote and serve in the army. Not before. We have to give them time to become men.
 
loader said:
By age 21, young people can buy alcohol, tobacco, vote and serve in the army. Not before. We have to give them time to become men.
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There is currently only one of those that cannot be done at age 18. And it is easily argued that it takes much more maturity to make an informed vote than it does to drink alcohol responsibly. Most people over 21 are incapable of informed voting.
 
I would go with 18.....like most others I think those that can die in battle should be allowed to buy a drink. I also like the idea of anyone with a Military ID being served with one.

Although I don't think they will change the laws. Now going forward they can cite safety reasons as any main reason for Society.
 
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