Legal drinking age?

[Durin]

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.

 

[shrubnose]

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.

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.

 

[Durin]

It may or may not have. I think a lot of it was tougher laws against drunk driving. For me this is fundamentally a moral point. It is fundamentally unfair to expect young people to die for their country while denying them the privileges of adulthood. I am over 21 so this is not some kid griping about not being able to drink, this is an American citizen who has watched news stories of 18, 19 and 20 year old soldiers die in Iraq and Afghanistan, when they would be fined or even arrested for drinking a beer in their home country. Yes they volunteered, but it is still possible to draft 18-20 year olds if it is brought back.

How many lives raising the drinking age saved or didn't save is not the point. If it is so important to have the drinking age be 21, then people are not mature enough to join the military and risk their life.

This (and reckless expansion of the War on Drugs) were Reagan's two major faults, other than that he was a good president.

 

[brothern]

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

Of course? Raising the drinking age to 99 would lower traffic accidents and death too. Or limiting the drinking age to 30 to 35 year olds? How about 14 for females (less risky) and 35 for males (more risky)? Defending the current 21 drinking as "lowered traffic accidents" is a completely arbitrary argument. Any cull of eligible drinkers would do the same.

 

[iacardsfan]

Let the states decide. Each state knows its resources. If i had it my way though there would be no "drinking age"

 

[brothern]

I'm all for lowering the drinking age. Having lived in a country where the drinking age is 16 for beer/wine and 18 for hard liquor, it's amusing that Americans are so uptight about this.

Society doesn't crumble when you let young adults vote and drink.

 

[Durin]

Of course? Raising the drinking age to 99 would lower traffic accidents and death too. Or limiting the drinking age to 30 to 35 year olds? How about 14 for females (less risky) and 35 for males (more risky)? Defending the current 21 drinking as "lowered traffic accidents" is a completely arbitrary argument. Any cull of eligible drinkers would do the same.

You are right, we cannot eliminate all risk from society, short of introducing the death penalty for every minor infraction.

 

[Neomalthusian]

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.

Pretty good points, but at the same time I think our laws are a little dogmatic about this and I think there is benefit to allowing young people to use alcohol in the supervision of responsible adults, or in some other regulated way. If an adult is essentially risking his career by allowing a minor to consume an alcoholic beverage, that is overkill. It causes kids to seek out ways to drink in less controlled, less safe and less responsible ways. If the only way kids can find a place to drink is to go to the neighborhood druggie's house, they'll be exposed to those drugs while disinhibited by alcohol. Girls end up impregnated or even raped (or both), kids end up driving to try to evade consequences, bla bla bla.

I guess I'm saying I don't necessarily think the age needs to be changed, but I think the laws could stand to be flexed a little, i.e. decriminalizing youth/young adult alcohol consumption with the right precautions and supervision in place.

 

[Durin]

In the end you will never drive alcohol out of our society. It has been a part of western society for 5000 years, and prohibition was a utopian scheme. If indeed we had little cultural heritage of alcohol I would in theory support banning it (being no libertarian) but just like marijuana it is too common, so it is a lost cause. So we have to live with alcohol. Part of that is that young people will naturally desire it, and if the law says it is totally forbidden until 21, how can they learn to grow into it responsibly?

Yes they could obey the law, but they will not. Ultimately I think we need to reduce some of this taboo around alcohol and youth. We celebrate it so much in our culture then tell 18-20 year olds they can't have it. I think that by making it a forbidden fruit young people see it as "edgy" and thus feel they need to drink it in a party context. I never once saw any of my peers just sit down and enjoy a beer before 21, before 21 it was all about chugging as much as possible. Why? Because it was hard to get so if you had it you naturally wanted to use it in excess. We cannot teach young people to drink responsibly if it is totally taboo for an adult to share a beer with their kid until they are 21.

 

[specklebang]

I think that only people with Medicare should be allowed to drink alcohol.

•Proven survival abilities
•Alternative to pain meds
•Already extremely nervous, cautious drivers who stay safely at 15 MPH under the speed limit. Not in your hurry.
•Medicare ID card is instant proof of age

I'm sure there are more reasons. I'm just trying to help.

When I was growing up the drinking age was 18. Of course, I had fake ID and used it to go to bars. As soon as I turned 18, the thrill was gone and I realized it just made me miserable.

I'm fine with 21 and giving military people special privileges. They might get shot at while you're home playing Angry Birds. Military ID is pretty distinct.

 

[shrubnose]

Of course? Raising the drinking age to 99 would lower traffic accidents and death too.

Or limiting the drinking age to 30 to 35 year olds? How about 14 for females (less risky) and 35 for males (more risky)? Defending the current 21 drinking as "lowered traffic accidents" is a completely arbitrary argument. Any cull of eligible drinkers would do the same.

You're wasting your breath.

The drinking age will not be lowered.

 

[Durin]

I don't support giving military people special privileges. I think it is a rationale for lowering it across the board, but I also think it is dumb to somehow give people in the military special treatment just because they are in the military. I think people in the military deserve our commendation, but we should not just allow them to drink of that. We should allow everybody over 18 to drink because they are expected to have the responsibilities of adulthood. Not only military service, but if they commit a crime they are held responsible as adults.

So people are not responsible enough to do something as simple as drink a beer, but are responsible enough to be tried as adults? If they shouldn't be able to drink because their brains are developing, should they be able to do hard time? If their brains aren't developed obviously they weren't totally aware of the immorality of their crime.

For the record I would have NO problem with the drinking age being 21 if it were not for the inconsistency. I feel like the age of majority on all things should increase if we are to leave drinking at 21. After all, joining the military is a very big decision and could possibly lead to death. Is a gung-ho 18 year old really capable of making that decision as an adult and recognizing they may in fact die in warfare? In the same way should people at 18 face the same sentences as adults for crime? What about purchasing a gun? You can buy a long gun (but not a handgun) at 18. You can also get married. The point is drinking alcohol is such a trivial thing compared to these other responsibilities. If we feel alcohol is such a big responsibility it cannot be handled until 21, so are all the other things. Otherwise it is unfair to give 18-20 year olds these responsibilities, while denying them the right to enjoy a legal glass of beer.

 

[Durin]

Studies aside I live in the USA and grew up with a 21 drinking age. I know at huge amount of people who became alcoholics between 18 and 21, and plenty more for whom the process was complete by 25. They became that way in spite of the law. Here in the USA before I was 21 I could have just made a few phone calls and gotten as much booze as I wanted. That's all it takes. Unless you are the type of kid who only associates entirely with goody two shoes who have never drank in their life and don't know anybody who does it is not hard for kids to get alcohol. Even in high school when people were 15-18 people always knew where to get it.

I'm amazed the drinking age still is 21 after how everybody breaks the law, in fact I think the only way it has remained that high is a testament to how easy it is to get alcohol, because people don't view it as much of a burden worth fighting to repeal. Still, people can be arrested, pay fines, and even get a criminal record in some places if they get caught. 99% do not get an MIP (as they call it here) but some do, and I think it is unfair. I never got one before I was 21 but I have never drank much, but I knew a lot of people who did.

 

[Tothian]

I don't think there should be a legal age.

Although, I do think health risks should be looked in to for younger kids.

I don't think there should be laws about this sort of thing. But I think people and their parents should be smarter about this.

 

[Durin]

I don't think there should be a legal age.

Although, I do think health risks should be looked in to for younger kids.

I don't think there should be laws about this sort of thing. But I think people and their parents should be smarter about this.

I don't think a legal age should have been introduced in the first place, however the damage has done and it has disallowed a culture of responsible drinking from developing among the youth. I don't think we can just do away with it overnight, although I would theoretically favor slowly abolishing it over time as culture changes. I think the first step is to lower it to 18 or 19.

 

[Tothian]

I don't think a legal age should have been introduced in the first place, however the damage has done and it has disallowed a culture of responsible drinking from developing among the youth. I don't think we can just do away with it overnight, although I would theoretically favor slowly abolishing it over time as culture changes. I think the first step is to lower it to 18 or 19.

We shouldn't have to weasle our way to freedom like how the liberals weasle their way to make the world a worse off place.

We should defend freedom and promote it too. Not simply encourage people to take small steps at a time - just because others act like it'll be more acceptable that way.

 

[jamesrage]

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.

I agree.If you are old enough to go to combat then you should be old enough to drink alcohol.

 

[Kreton]

Parents, not the government, should decide when their kids can drink.

 

[apdst]

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.

Tell that to all those 18 year olds that have been forced, by law, to register for the draft.

 

[digsbe]

I think it should be 18 with supervision and 21 without supervision. I think at 18 you are an adult and should be allowed to drink under supervision and can purchase drinks on your own at 21.

 

[Removable Mind]

I agree.If you are old enough to go to combat then you should be old enough to drink alcohol.

What does intoxication (altering one's mental state) and engaging in events such as war, which could be fatal, have in common? Certainly the two don't mix.

 

[CanadaJohn]

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.

Personally, I support the drinking age of 21 for both purchasing alcohol at a liquor store and at a bar or restaurant that serves drinks. However, if parents wish to allow their children, in the privacy of their homes, to consume a little wine with dinner or on a special occasion, I have no problem with that either. Actually, if parents introduce children to alcohol at a younger age, they lose their facination with it and the novelty of chasing after the forbidden as they progress through the teenage years. I tried beer when I was young and hated it and never acquired a taste for it throughout my life - I enjoy other drinks, on occasion, but that early access didn't turn me into an alcoholic - if anything, it might have done the opposite.

 

[Lutherf]

I think it should be 18 with supervision and 21 without supervision. I think at 18 you are an adult and should be allowed to drink under supervision and can purchase drinks on your own at 21.

Right there on my list of stuff I never want to have to do, just above blowing my brains out slowly with a beanbag gun, is "supervising" a group of drunk 18 year olds.

They vomit, they listen to horrible music, they're humping each other like freaking puppies.....no thanks!

 

[digsbe]

Right there on my list of stuff I never want to have to do, just above blowing my brains out slowly with a beanbag gun, is "supervising" a group of drunk 18 year olds.

They vomit, they listen to horrible music, they're humping each other like freaking puppies.....no thanks!

That's the point of supervision. In my experience 18 year olds have very very little concept of how not to abuse alcohol and enjoy it like an adult. They have few restraints and a lack of maturity. Under supervision they would not be allowed to have the quantities that would result in them vomiting, passing out and choosing to get behind the wheel of a vehicle while still intoxicated.

 

[shrubnose]

Tell that to all those 18 year olds that have been forced, by law, to register for the draft.

When do you think that they will be drafted in to the U.S. Military?

I suggest that we cross that bridge when we get to it, right now the only way that anyone gets into the U.S. military is as a volunteer.