What should the drinking age be???

[Ian84 0]

I was talking to one of my mates who is currently traveling south america about the prospect of heading to the southern US sometime in the near future. We both really want to go there. We were talking about all the mad stuff we could do. See the Grand Canyon, eat hot dogs, rent an SUV, drink some beer......wait a minute.....BEER???? Is'nt the legal age over there 21?!!! Thats freakin terrible......so we have decided to postpone our trip for at least 2 years Not because we NEED alcohol but I think I would resent being treated like a child and being unable to get a pint. Anyway......just wondering what you all think about it. What should the drinking age be?? Personally I find 21 outrageous, surely if your old enough to vote, drive, have sex, smoke, and fight in a war your old enough to have a beer........

[jessefs 0]

If I'm old enough to take a bullet for my country, then I'm old enough to have a beer for my country.

(I believe there are other reasons the drinking age should be 18, but this is the flashing neon sign for me.)

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[indyz 1]

I'm on the fence. I think the "fight for my country, buy cigarretes, vote, but not drink" argument holds some water. At the same time, I know that when the drinking age was raised in the 70s it did help reduce drunk driving accidents, especially in teenagers*. Some people I know who could drink as 18 year-olds back in the 70s support the 21 drinking age. Is it because they don't like us young whippersnappers, or are they just excercising the benefits of hindsight?

I might support lowering the drinking age if penalties for drunk driving were much more severe. As it stands, a legal drinker getting busted for DUI is practically a non-event as long as nobody gets hurt and no property is damaged. Even if there is, it's laughable how easy it is to get your driver's license back.

* Sort of. Where I live, it actually increased them for a brief period. I live near the border of Wisconsin and Illinois. During the 70s there was a period of time when Illinois had raised the drinking age to 21, but Wisconsin was still at 18. Kids would drive to Wisconsin to get drunk, then trek back home. Instead of going a couple miles to the neighborhood bar they would drive 10-15 miles to cross the border. Same drinking, but more miles on the road, equals more accidents.

[Kennedy 0]

It would be best not to have any drinking age whatsoever. If you take the "coolness" factor, and the "we're not allowed so let's do it" desirability away, then kids will treat it with more respect, and less mysticism.

Does anyone really think a fourteen year old would really want to try liquor more than once if it wasn't so "cool?"

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[Ian84 0]

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It would be best not to have any drinking age whatsoever. If you take the "coolness" factor, and the "we're not allowed so let's do it" desirability away, then kids will treat it with more respect, and less mysticism.

Does anyone really think a fourteen year old would really want to try liquor more than once if it wasn't so "cool?"

Thats exactly what I think.....well put. Once the novelty wears off and its just a normal part of life then there's no peer pressure, drink if you want to. Dont like the taste?? Have a coke.

[PhillyKev 0]

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It would be best not to have any drinking age whatsoever. If you take the "coolness" factor, and the "we're not allowed so let's do it" desirability away, then kids will treat it with more respect, and less mysticism.

Does anyone really think a fourteen year old would really want to try liquor more than once if it wasn't so "cool?"

Agreed. It's pretty obvious from the lower rates of alcoholism in countries that don't have age restrictions that when the taboo of something is lifted, it becomes less of a pariah.

[Tonto 1]

When you see who they have to vote for.... they really should be allowed to drink at 18.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[happythoughts 0]

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If I'm old enough to take a bullet for my country, then I'm old enough to have a beer for my country.

(I believe there are other reasons the drinking age should be 18, but this is the flashing neon sign for me.)

During Vietnam, there was a discussion of the voting age. "How can I fight/die in a war to enforce policy that I can't vote on?"

The extension of this is "If I am mature enough to make voting decisions to guide my country, why am I not mature enough to make drinking decisions?"

When I was 18, the drinking age in Florida was 18.
A lot of kids were placed in situations that they didn't have the maturity to deal with. The attitudes that work in high school, don't necessarily work in a bar. Lots of bar fights over non-issues and things of exaggerated importance.

[TheAnvil 0]

Old enough to serve your country in the military, be prosecuted as an adult, and vote - then you're DEFINITELY old enough to drink alcoholic beverages.

Actually I support the right of a parent to determine when their kid can have alcohol. Why the hell should the gov't be involved at all? I think a lot of the stupidity stemming from alocohol that occurs here in the US is due to the 21 y/o drinking age. I think lowering it would initially be painful, with an increase in DUI/DUI fatalities, but I think in the long run the benefits to our society would be great.

Yours in agave,

Vinny the Anvil
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

[livendive 8]

I guess I'll side with the Anvil on this one. While I think that IF we're going to have a minimum age for buying/drinking alcohol, it should be 18, I would PREFER that we treat tobacco/alcohol like any other consumer good. Regulating such commerce simply doesn't fit into the mold of what I think our government should be.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[kelpdiver 2]

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Does anyone really think a fourteen year old would really want to try liquor more than once if it wasn't so "cool?"

Given easy access to booze, certainly. There are plenty of alcoholic (or just heavy drinkers) and it's not because it's cool, it's because they get buzzed. Same reason so many adults have drinking problems.

[PhillyKev 0]

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Given easy access to booze, certainly. There are plenty of alcoholic (or just heavy drinkers) and it's not because it's cool, it's because they get buzzed. Same reason so many adults have drinking problems.

But there are a lot less in countries where it's not restricted. How do you explain that?

[kallend 2,115]

I think the drinking age should be less than the age to get a driver's license.

Then by the time you get a driver's license you will have got over the stupid drinking tricks.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[wmw999 2,558]

We combine easy access to car-driving with drinking at an early age. I have a feeling that if you don't drive after drinking (and the US is pretty far out ahead in having kids almost universally drive), then it's not much of an issue.

I spent my last 2 years of high school overseas, where the drinking age was 18 and the driving age was 18, but almost no one I knew had a car. Buses were universal.

No drunk driving deaths. However, the city was Rio, and no one will tell you that the driving there is something to be emulated, drunk driving accidents or not.

So I'd have to say that emotionally and intellectually, the drinking age should be 18. But given what happened when it was, it should be higher.

And any parent should be able to have their kid served alcohol when they're out to dinner with them. Just as any parent who wants to serve alcohol to their own kid at home (e.g. a glass of wine with dinner) can now. Kids learn by experience and emulation -- how else can they learn about alcohol if not by watching responsible adults who can have fun? Won't work for every kid, but for a lot.

For that matter, any soldier on active duty should be able to drink on base.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[PhillyKev 0]

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Just as any parent who wants to serve alcohol to their own kid at home (e.g. a glass of wine with dinner) can now.

They can?

[kelpdiver 2]

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Given easy access to booze, certainly. There are plenty of alcoholic (or just heavy drinkers) and it's not because it's cool, it's because they get buzzed. Same reason so many adults have drinking problems.

But there are a lot less in countries where it's not restricted. How do you explain that?

Kids here don't have easy access to booze so they tend to binge when they get the chance. Couple that with their inexperience behind the wheel and you get the bad combination. I think Wendy captured a lot of what's going on. Overall Americans are less responsible then they should be with alcohol and cars, and teens are even worse. The end result is the 21 age point, fair or not.

I see nothing wrong with serving wine to children at the dinner table (in the half glass quantity), but I believe most won't find it very appealing. If you're used to sweet drinks like Coke, it's hard to drink traditional dry wines, and as a result we now have "wines" like White Zinfandel and Strawberry Merlot. They're the gateway drugs of the wine world.

[wmw999 2,558]

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we now have "wines" like White Zinfandel and Strawberry Merlot

You're not trying to say that they're worse than (Wendy looks both ways to make sure no one knows she's familiar with these) Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill and other such classics, are you?

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[BikerBabe 0]

Yes, they can. My parents did. Alcohol was No Big Deal in our home. We were raised knowing there was nothing special about alcohol, and as a result, not a single one of my parents' kids ever got into any sort of trouble with underage drinking, binging, etc.

At least, this attitude of education rather than vilification helped a lot...though I'm sure the rest of our upbringing (morals, values, etc) had something to do with it, too.

Take away the forbidden aspect of drinking, and I think we'd have a lot fewer problems.

My vote is for no such thing as a "drinking age".

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

[wmw999 2,558]

I guess when I say "drinking age" I mean unsupervised, when someone can go to a bar or store and buy however much they want.

Having a glass of wine with dinner should be OK in any household that desires it. And irresponsible parents who let or encourage their kids to drink too much should face the same sort of sanctions that other examples of irresponsible parenting face.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[nacmacfeegle 0]

"They're the gateway drugs of the wine world."

As are alcopops such as Smirnoff Ice and Baccardi Breezers.
Take a look at some of these wines, they are made next door to a DZ.
http://www.cairnomohr.co.uk/framepage/ourwinespage.htm
Sotlands only winery (as far as I am aware).

--------------------

He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[AndyMan 7]

I grew up in Ontario where the drinking age is 19. I went to College in Ottawa where we could head accross the river to Quebec and the drinking age is 18.

I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to go through college not being old enough to drink. I imagine, most Americans can't imagine that anyways, as underage drinking in college seems to be the norm.

Whenever cultural differences between Canada and the US come up, I can't help but compare the two countries, since these cultural differences seem to be very minimal.

The standard arguments against lowering the drinking age is that:

a: A lower drinking age leads to more alcoholics.
b: A lower drinking age leads to more alcohol abuse.
c: A lower drinking age leads to more alcohol related car accidents.

Well, in two countries that share very similar cultures, Canada has a lower drinking age.

They do not have a higher incidence of alcoholism among the general population.
They do not have a higher rate of alcolhol abuse among the general population.
They do not have a higher rate of alcolhol related car accidents.

I do not like the idea that people "learn to drink" while they're in their senior years of college, away from their families and exposed only to the "college lifestyle".

I would much rather that people learn to drink in the comfort of their own home, with the supervision and direction of their parents. This is the case in Canada, where traditionally high school was 5 years long, and kids were old enough to drink in their last year of high school.

Doing as is done in Canada also means that schools can endorse and control drinking during a college freshmans first year. In the US, freshman drinking is forced underground, a system that never works.

_Am

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You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[rehmwa 2]

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subject is forced underground, a system that never works.

_Am

So who wants to apply that statement to:
social welfare
gun control laws
drug laws
drinking laws (topical)
political correctness laws
other social programs the government 'means well'

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[PhillyKev 0]

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So who wants to apply that statement to:
social welfare
gun control laws
drug laws
drinking laws (topical)
political correctness laws
other social programs the government 'means well'

Ohhhh oooohhhhh me me. Well, not welfare or other social programs. But any banning of anything that is easily attainable through illegal sources, anyway.

[markd_nscr986 0]

it should be 18.....but self righteous people say otherwise in all states except Louisiana???or is it 21 too?

Marc SCR 6046 SCS 3004

[AndyMan 7]

I'd agree generally that banning things that are easily available is a futile attempt.

I'd show examples of this as Prohibition, and American drug laws.

I'm not quite sure how this applies to the list of things quoted above. Beer, wine, and pot are often manufactured in peoples basements, hence they're dificult to control. I can't say the same thing about most guns.

I'm not sure I understand your listing of Social Welfare. As far as I know, there is no discussion of criminalizing it.

Nor am I aware of any attempts to criminalize political correctness. I've never heard of a hate law that applied to private discussions.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.