Drinking age...

haha yea. and i live in ottawa. so whenever you need booze just hop across that bridge!...but i dont turn 18 for another 6 months...
 
the reason 18 would be bad in the united states is because of the culture. In europe the kids are brough up with the shit, and they start young so usually dont end up abusing it too badly. in america we're so anti-drinking that the first thing young rebellious teenagers wanna do is go out and get wasted.
 
the Europe vs us drinking thing is true though.

i go to France every year, and since i was like 2, my grandpa's been like "drink up son, you can finish that whole bottle" so now being in the states, i honestly have no motivation to drink nonstop.
 
a-frickin-men, i am so against a drinking age its rediculous. of course dropping the drinking age would be caotic for a few months or a year, but in the long run it would be so much better. I can't believe that in the US we can drive a car 5 years before we can drink. i think driving is so much more of a responsiblility than drinking.
 
yeah 18 would be bad, but then so is 21. it would solve everything if there was no drinking age at all, then drinking is nothing special. but if we got rid of the drinking age everyone would go crazy for a couple years then it would start to mellow down.
 
i hate the drinking age for other reasons though too. Tonight I am going to a Push by MSP and I really want to see sweatshop union play at the after party but no I cant go because I am not 21 and dont have a fake. Its just rediculous. Also, another time my dad and I went to this bar to here a really good band play and I couldn't get in, with my dad, because I was 17. And another time my uncles band was playing an event and I was not even allowed to see him play because I wasn't 21. I HATE THE DRINKING AGE, ITS THE WORST LAW, AND MOST HYPOCRITICAL LAW IN AMERICA!!!!!!!
 
where in europe are you talking about, it all depends, in England, or any other first world country in europe, kids drink just as much as they do in the States. If we talk about second and third world countrys, yes they dont abuse it because alcohol is very expensive and they do not have the budget for even parents to send money on alcohol. Another reason for the drinking age to be 18 is the majority of highschool seniors are 18, and even some juniors. This would make it alot easier for under classmen to obtain, this was one of the major reason for changing it back to 21 back when.

On the other hand, if we did change the drinking age to 18 it would help us stupid teenagers not get in as much trouble with the law. Also it would be more reasonable since we are able to make everyother decission on our own at 18, why not let us drink? ha Its very unlikely that this law will change before most of us are 21, so it doesnt really make a difference and its not like its stoping any of us from drinking
 
exactly how I feel, and the drinking age is only 19 here, but still. Most of my friends will be turning 19 within the next 8 months, and I have a year and 4 months to wait, son of a bitch.
 
It's stupid how you can join the military, and put your life at risk when you're 18, but the government doesn't think 18 year olds are mature enough to drink alcohol.

 
Most 18 year olds arent mature enough to drink alcohol. Being in the army is totally different. They get training, and they're under constant supervision.
 
Saying that "most 18 year olds" aren't mature enough to drink alcohol is impossible. Some definiltey aren't, but to make such a broad claim is ridiculous.

People in the military may be under constant supervision, but people still die daily. Regardless of how much supervision they are under, they still are inevitably putting their lives at risk. If you're old enough to die "for" your country, aren't you old enough to make your own choices as to what beverage you consume?

 
that's completely true, and why most teenagers are fucking retarded. going out and getting shitfaced doesn't make you cool.
 
Personally, I think the drinking age should be 19. It keeps most alcohol out of high school, but in college it would't be a problem. Because honestly, getting beer in college is the easiest thing in the world.
 
This should be a good reason:

30+ Million people between the ages of 18 and 25

Adults by any other standard and we can:

Serve in the Armed Forces of the USA and potentially give up our lives in defense of our country

Get married

Adopt a baby

Have or not have an abortion

Enter into legally binding contracts

Hold most public offices

Serve on capital punishment juries

Be tried and imprisoned

Be executed

Fly airplanes

Sue and be sued

Start political organizations to demand change

Vote

Angry with legislators and the laws that they pass that target us randomly as a group and assume we are unable to make a decision about whether or not to consume alcohol until we are 21.

Even angrier when this law is:

Arbitrary

Counterproductive

Discriminatory

Illogical

Infringing on traditionally accepted States’ Rights by those on the Senate and House Transportation Committees by attaching Federal Highway Fund allocations to only States complying with the 21 yr. age requirement to consume alcohol

Passed by State Legislators all too willing to trade the liberties of their young adults for Federal money

Turning us into criminals

Unenforceable

Being discriminated against and ignored because we have a track record of not voting as a general rule.

Discriminated against and ignored because we don’t have any money to contribute to influence lawmakers.

We have figured out how to deliver the votes and raise the money. Time to start listening Washington!!

 
yep, im 18 and i think it would prolly do more harm than good. if it were implemented 50 years ago, it would be perfect, but we live in today, so the reality is... not gunna happen.
 
yeah dude i have no idea how they think 18 year olds are old and mature enough to go to war, thats fucking crazy, you should be able to volunteer at 21, and be able to be drafted by 25. 18 is like crazy young to go to war.
 
I wrote a pretty good essay about this my freshman year in college. You guys can read this if you want. It is pretty informative.

Lower the Drinking Age-

Today in the United States, an 18 year old can legally drive a car, pilot an aircraft, buy firearms, serve on juries, and vote in local, state, and national elections. Eighteen year-old males are required to register with the Selective Service and all persons of this age are required to pay taxes. Eighteen year olds can enlist in the military and 18 year olds are tried as adults in all criminal cases. Eighteen year olds share the same responsibilities all other citizens that are above the age of 17, but they do not have the same rights as everyone else. Why is it then, that these tax paying, voting citizens do not posses the right to drink alcohol? The fact is the citizens between the ages of 18 and 20 have unbalanced responsibilities and rights compared to the rest of citizens who are 21 and older. Contrary to what others may say, my right to vote is not reason enough for me to be able drink. However, the fact that I have adult responsibilities is reason enough for me to be able to drink. Responsibilities should yield equal rights for all who share them. Besides the fact that citizens between the age of 18 and 20 have disproportionate responsibilities and rights, there is statistical evidence that proves that early introduction of alcohol is the safest way to prevent juvenile alcohol abuse and promote responsible drinking.

As a responsible taxpayer, I believe that I should be entitled to the same rights as all other taxpayers. It makes absolutely no sense that I as an 18 year old am considered mature enough to go vote at city hall and then buy an automatic assault rifle at a gun show on my way back home (Yes, this is perfectly legal now that the ban on assault weapons has been lifted), but not mature enough to drink in a responsible manner. There is a fundamental flaw in the laws of the United States. Citizens who are between the ages of 18 and 20 are considered adults by their responsibilities and are also considered adults in the criminal justice system, but are considered minors when it comes to their rights. Shouldn’t scores of people be flocking to the Supreme Court to protest the execution of all criminals who were sentenced to death for crimes that they committed when they were between the ages of 18 and 20? Surely these “minors”, were incapable of controlling themselves. Certainly they shouldn’t be held responsible. After all, they weren’t even mature enough to consume a beer.

Law enforcement agencies across the country see adults between the age of 18 and 20 as minors only when it comes to alcohol violations. In a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission article about stings to arrest people with fake IDs entitled “Operation Fake Out” the TABC refers to college age adults as “youngsters.” I find humor in the fact that the TABC refers to me like this. I pay taxes just like TABC agents do. I can vote like they can, drive like they can, serve on a jury like they can, buy a fire arm like they can, and if I were to be arrested for being a minor in possession of a fake ID, I would be tried as an adult. The same government that forces me as an adult male to register for the Selective Service and allows women of my same age to get abortions calls me a youngster and enforces a law that treats me as a second class citizen. As long as 18 year old adults pay taxes, we should be able to drink responsibly. Either the U.S. government is depriving me of a right that I am entitled to as an adult, or the U.S. government is sending children to war, allowing children to get abortions, and among many other things, allowing children to buy firearms.

The organization Mothers Against Drunk Driving is famous for their devotion to saving lives through their continuing efforts to prevent drunk driving accidents. MADD claims that the laws of the 1980’s that brought about the universal 21 year old drinking age in the U.S. have saved over 20,000 live (21,887 to be more exact) in people who are 18-20. (Minimum Drinking Age Laws). This statistic is rather questionable. MADD quotes this statistic from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration who isn’t clear on what methods were used to come to this conclusion. I think that population should hold MADD and the NHTSA to a higher standard. I believe that it is important to disclose what methods were used to discover this statistic. It is obviously impossible for MADD to produce person number 21,877 who was saved by the 21 year old drinking age. It is also important to point out that it is in the best interest of MADD and the NHTSA to go along with a statistic that is possibly inflated, exaggerated, or downright false. After all, in is the best interest of bureaucratic organizations such as the NHTSA and special interests groups such as MADD to at least appear as if the help the public. Other organizations, like the National Youth Rights Association are quick to shoot down MADD’s estimation. The NYRA sates that the estimation that 20,000 lives were saved “is one of the most misguided and over used statistics circulated by the Youth Prohibitionist movement” (Lower the Drinking Age). The problem with the study is that it only focused on deaths in the 18-20 year old bracket. The raised drinking age actually “transferred lost lives from the 18-20 bracket to the 21-24 age group” (Lower the Drinking Age) What is evident is that the age group within a few years of the drinking age is likely to suffer from drunk driving accidents. The answer should not have been to increase the drinking age, but rather to increase educational programs that help teach people about the dangers of drunk driving. If the drinking age were raised to 25, the 25-28 year old bracket would likely see an increase in drunk driving deaths after a few years.

Although supporters of the 21 year old drinking age might say that 18-20 year olds might “assume invulnerability” before making decisions, the fact that deaths rose in the 21-24 age bracket suggests that it takes Americans a few years to understand how many drinks it takes before they are impaired. The only way to counteract this for all age brackets regardless of drinking age is to have in depth educational programs that explain how many drinks it takes to become impaired. Scare tactics that are currently used to prevent individuals from drinking only work for a short period of time. If the drinking age were lowered to 18 and public schools had programs that prepared high school students to be responsible drinkers, drunk driving deaths would probably decrease across the board and hopefully decrease among the age bracket when drinking is first legal for the first time in history.

In the late 1980’s binge drinking among 18-20 year olds did fall for a short time as a result of the no tolerance alcohol laws for adults under the age of 21. Becky Ham of the Center for the Advancement of Health explains that binge drinking rates among 18-20 year olds fell only by 7 percent in the years directly after the 21 year old drinking age was instated and that it rose steadily in the late 1990’s. (Ham) It is evident that the 21 year old drinking age, which was only slightly successful in preventing binge drinking, is now not working to prevent binge drinking. I believe that many problems associated with drinking have little to do with the drinking age but rather a lack of education about the responsible use of alcohol. Unlike our European counterparts who learn to consume alcohol as a complement to food, people in the U.S. generally have their first experiences with alcohol at high school parties where the sole use of alcohol is to get drunk. While teens in Europe might learn to drink responsibly at the dinner table, teens in the U.S. know only the motive to drink to get drunk. As Gene Ford of State University of New York Potsdam puts it, “Young people in France, Spain, and Argentina rarely abuse alcohol. They learn how to drink within the family, which sees drinking in moderation as natural and normal.” (Ford) If drinking before the age of 21 wasn’t forbidden, the U.S. would have much less underage binge drinking and less of a problem with adult alcoholism (Lower the Drinking Age).

One of the main praises of the raising of the drinking age to 21 that organizations such as MADD highlight are statistics that prove that drunk driving deaths have dropped since the drinking age was raised. While this may be true, the studies fail to take into account to lowering of speed limits and the seat belt laws that went into effect at the same time that the drinking age was increased. Airbags have also become more prevalent in cars since the mid 80s, a factor that no doubt saved countless people in auto accidents. The statistics don’t state that the number of drunk drivers has fallen or that the number of drunk driving accidents has fallen, but merely that the number of drunk driving accident deaths have fallen since the mid 1980s. In all actuality, the raise in drinking age to 21 might not have had much of an affect on drunk driving at all. The fact is that Twenty-one year olds might be just as likely to drive drunk as 18 year olds.

I believe that 18-20 year olds in the United States have a disproportionate number of responsibilities to rights. Equal responsibilities should yield equal rights. As long as 18 year olds are tried as adults in court, pay taxes, are allowed to vote, can by firearms, and do an infinite number of things that all other adults are expected or allowed to do, they should be legally permitted to drink in a responsible manner.

Works Cited

Ford, Gene. "Why We Should Lower the Drinking Age to 19." 1998. Sociology Department, State University of New York. 22 Oct. 2004 .

Ham, Becky . "Binge Drinking Declines in the Late "80s, Rises Again In the Late '90s ." Center for the Advancement of Health. 28 Oct. 2004 .

History of the Drinking Age. Realistic Alcohol Laws for Legal Youth. 18 Oct. 2004

.

"History of the Legal Drinking Age." Law & Enforcement. Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. 18 Oct. 2004 .

"Lower the Drinking Age." National Youth Rights Association. 22 Oct. 2004 .

"MADD estimates 20,000 lives saved by raising of drinking age.." Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly 26 Jul 2004: 16. :5- . Academic Search Premier. Ebsco Host. 22 Oct 2004 .

"Minimum Drinking Age Laws." MADD Online: Minimum Drinking Age Laws. MADD. 23 Oct. 2004 .

 
I think he was saying that 18 year olds are old enough and mature enough to go to war, purely because they recieve training and supervision.
 
I do that all the time except now I am 19 and I still do it. If you can find the right spot you can get a case(24) of Coors Light/Blue for 27$. But I agree that the drinking age should be moved but to 19, same as Canada(except Quebec, and I believe Alberta).
 
19 makes sense. having kids be able to drink while they're still in high school would be too much trouble, my dad said it was bad when it was like that. is a kid really much more mature at 21 then they are at 19?
 
I thought about this for a while, and this is my third try and writing down what I feel about this. The problem I guess is that no matter what the age you set, its inevitable that some kids will always get alcohol. These are the kids who will always be irresponsible. But I think that having the drinking age so high is overall a bad idea. We dont teach our kids to be responsible when it comes to drinking because getting drunk when you're under 21 is a clandestined activity. When you ddrink underage, its usually at a party, and because you cant just go buy alcohol any time you want, most people drink at that age with the only intent being to get drunk. You dont teach responsible drinking when you make drinking at that age a illegal activity. The drinking age should be 19 at least. I mean, the rest of the world isnt drunk off thier ass all the time because they're drinking age is 16. This law enforces kids to be irresponsible when they drink, and the lwa definently needs to change.

But it never will. Why? Because by the time a senator is in office, the majority of the voters that support him will be middle aged parents, who dont want thier kids going out drinking. People forget about the issue.

However, if someone really wanted to get out the 18-25 vote...
 
this is america god damnit the land of the free... NOT! because of queer as old people who never got invited to parties and those damn womens groups
 
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