Lowering the Drinking Age

[ArenaBoy]

If I can buy cigarettes, vote, have sex, serve my country, buy pornography, and live on my own all at the magical age of 18, I think I should be able to drink at 18. Seriously, that at 18 one's able to live in an apartment or get a house, which is a big responsibility in itself, yet can't drink is illogical.

[Sylvia727]

However, I still think a stronger showing of responsibility on part of the under 21 crowd would be helpful here. I find it hard to believe that people aren't looking at the kids who get excessively wasted and cause horrible car accidents and other social mishaps and thinking, "Gee, it's a good thing the drinking age is 21. These kids clearly cannot handle booze."

But that's exactly my point. Opponents are only looking at the kids who screw up and get wasted, and then using them as an excuse to maintain the laws, instead of looking at all the kids who are behaving themselves and drinking responsibly. Selective vision to further their own agendas and punish the underage drinkers who are behaving responsibly. Yes, some 18- to 20-year-olds screw up, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn it's more common in that age group than other age groups. In particular cases, there's no excuse for underage drinking and driving. But in general, looking at society as a whole, underage drinkers are not expected to be responsible. Their maturity is belittled and a right is denied to them. How can anyone act surprised when this encourages irresponsible behavior? If you want them to drink responsibly, then let them drink. Or at least stop glamorizing the boozehounds.

[Jester]

I'm 38, almost 39, and while I can drink pretty much whenever I want, I still beleive as I did when I was younger, that the drinking age should be the same as the legal age for being an adult, signing legally binding contracts, voting, smoking, joining the military, potentially DYING in the military, being tried as an adult for any crime, being put to death for a capital crime, and being allowed to marry without parental consent, being allowed to have an abortion without parental consent, being allowed to run for and be elected to many local political offices, etc., etc., etc. In this country, all of the above can be done at 18. But not drinking.

MADD can cite any statistics they want, but I have some very basic ones for them.

In the U.S., where drinking is semi-taboo and alcohol laws are strict and the drinking age is 21 and there are a lot of Puritanical laws on the books regarding booze, alcoholism and other alcohol-related problems are high.

In Europe, where the alcohol is considered part of life and children are allowed to drink and the laws are far looser, alcoholism and alcohol-related problems are far, far lower.

I'd also like to point out that they take drinking and driving VERY seriously in Europe, and they have far stiffer penalties for DUI's than the U.S., because they realize how dangerous operating impaired is. You would not find someone getting 3, 4, 5 DUI's before having their license revoked in Europe, but it is not tough to find in the U.S.

Does anyone really believe any of the above is just simple coincidence?

I am in favor of the drinking age being lowered to 18 not for myself, but for people like my nieces, who will hopefully not feel as pressured to drink young, and for college students who are beginning to take control of their lives as they strike out into the world. (And non-college students as well, of course.) We call them adults in everything but drinking. This is hypocritical. And frankly, the current drinking age just isn't working, nor is it doing the job it was advertised to do. The U.S. has a problem with underage drinking, binge drinking by both minors and college students, and DUIs.

Let's return to logic and reason, rather than hypocrisy. Rational thought and education, not puritanism and "just say no." Lives are NOT being saved. The Great MADD Experiment has failed.

My mom wanted me to understand alcohol, and not glamorize it. As a result of her matter-of-fact attitude, I've never felt the urge to get wasted.

Would it sound terrible that I first got drunk at a family party when I was 12?

I'm not saying that all kids should get drunk as preteens, but maybe my parents were on to something...

Educating the young about alcohol. Novel concept. See above comments regarding Europe vs. U.S.

...one thing she told us was that there is no drinking age there, and that it's not uncommon for kids to ride somewhere on their bikes and have a beer.

She said that people drink for the sole purpose of enjoying the drink, and that people rarely get drunk because doing so is regarded as shameful.

Add "South America vs. U.S." to above example.

I work with someone who has landed their second DUI...and they're well over the legal age.

Idiots come in all ages. Changing the drinking age will not change that. Idiots are idiots. Too bad idiocy is not illegal.

So just make 20 the magic age for both.

Um, no. Unless you are going to make the age of adulthood 20 as well. And frankly, I don't see that happening for a million different reasons. Yes, the age of adulthood in the U.S. was 21 a few decades ago, but that is not going to return any time soon. Nor should it.

The problem with making the driving age 20...How many kids move out at 18? Can you imagine being away at college, and NOT being able to drive?

I agree with you about the driving age, but I DO know what it's like to be at college and not able to drive. A lot of people do. It has nothing to do with age, it has to do with not having a car! I didn't have my first car until I was 20. See, my parents taught me a few things too. One of them being a very simple rule they told all of us kids: "You want a car? You buy it!" Taught us the value of a car and of money, not to mention the value of working for something, rather than having it handed to you.

Is it true that any liquor store HAS to accept a passport as proof of age or does it vary by state or what?

State laws vary. I can tell you that in both Florida and Arizona, passports are considered a definitive form of ID, acceptable for alcoholic purchases, among other things. My guess is that most (if not all) states are about the same.