Lower the U.S. drinking age?

[MFer 0]

I'm sure this topic has been discussed before but I couldn't find an old thread on it. Anyways, this issue is back in the news right now.

 

Link

[Jingus 0]

I dunno. On one hand, I think that essentially promoting more drinking is generally a bad idea, in theory at least. But I've always thought it was damned bizarre that you can drive a car at 16, have sex and get drafted at 18, but have to wait until 21 to drink a beer.

[SamoaRowe 0]

The drinking age really should be 18. There is no sense in letting booze be a forbidden fruit for an extra three years, especially since myself and everyone I know can find ways to get their hands on it well before anyhow.

[MFer 0]

I dunno. On one hand, I think that essentially promoting more drinking is generally a bad idea, in theory at least. But I've always thought it was damned bizarre that you can drive a car at 16, have sex and get drafted at 18, but have to wait until 21 to drink a beer.

Not to mention being able to smoke, gamble (in most cases), go to some clubs, get married, vote, and do various other things when you turn 18.

[EricMM 0]

I would say lowering the drinking age would lower the number of 18-20 year olds drinking, not increase it...

[bobobrazil1984 0]

There's no real reason why the drinking age shouldn't be 18, except that lawmakers don't want to be the ones responsible with the increase in "stupid college kids drinking themselves into the hospital" and "drunk 18 year old drivers" stories that will inevitably follow - hell there are already too many of those situations that make the news now... not to mention the inconvenience of someone like me, in my mid-to-late 20s having to wade through 18 year olds at the bar.

but there's also something to be said for taking away the 'ooh a taboo' feeling of drinking before 21, after the initial increase, it will probably level out. One hopes.

[Guest WhackingCockDick]

Lowering the drinking age wouldn't have any effect on American binge drinking patterns, from how many kids are drinking to how much they are, at least not for a while. I think it would take 25 to 40 years before Americans stopped approaching alcohol consumption like a bunch of fucking idiots. Just lower it to 18 and drop the hammer on 18-21 DUIs.

[Guest Vitamin X]

This would be a boon to a lot of states with archaic institutions like we have here in Oregon, the OLCC. Here, you can't even walk into an establishment that has a liquor license if you're underage, which has been really, really bad for a lot of kids that want to go see bands play but can't because the venue is 21+. This has had the side-effect of increasing drug use among kids substantially since there's "nothing else for them to do." And it's sort of true, I could imagine that being a minor here would kind of suck, especially on a weekend night, so kids will just go out and make their own fun.

 

That's something of a marked difference from where I used to live, in where your ID was checked at the bar when ordering a drink, not at the front door, unless it was to give out a wristband or a stamp or something.

 

Lowering the federal drinking age would make some changes at the state level as well, hopefully.

[MFer 0]

That's a good point there. 18-20 year-olds (especially guys) are kind of caught up in this no-man's-land where they're not old enough to go to certain bars, casinos, and nightclubs with their 21-25 year-old friends but too old to do stuff with high-school kids. It creates this unnatural split between young adults, especially college students.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

The only reason the colleges want it is because they dont want to have the responsibility thrust upon them for all the underage drinking that happens on their campuses.

 

and by responsibility, I mean they dont want to be sued by the parents of kids who died as a result of underage drinking on their campus.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

If you lower the drinking age, the number of drunk driving fatalities will go up.

 

I always wondered why it had to be an either/or proposition. Why not 19? That way, most of the legal drinkers are out of high school, but have an extra year of "maturity" under their belt.

[Art Sandusky 0]

I like 20. Nice round number.

[NoCalMike 0]

Well the question is, has anyone really had that hard a time getting alcohol/getting drunk before they were of legal age? Just like Marijuana, is there anyone you know that has actually really wanted to try it, but refused to merely because it was "illegal" ?

 

Plenty of other countries have a lower drinking age and you don't see teenagers lining up to get drunk or passed out all over the place.

 

I'd say the binge drinking culture of college has nothing to do with the age of the students and more to do with the lifestyle itself.

 

If you are a legal adult at 18 then you should get all the luxuries and consequences of being an adult.

[EricMM 0]

If drinking were *legal* for any age, I suspect binge drinking would go down dramatically.

 

Being a boorish drunk would no longer be acceptable behaviour for a young person, the way it is in Europe.

[SuperJerk 0]

Someone should look into what the effects of raising the drinking age to 21 were. It was raised to 21 back in the 80s to lower drunk driving incidents, but nobody seems sure if it worked or not.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Well the question is, has anyone really had that hard a time getting alcohol/getting drunk before they were of legal age? Just like Marijuana, is there anyone you know that has actually really wanted to try it, but refused to merely because it was "illegal" ?

To be honest, actually I have known quite a few people that have refused to for that very reason, or have stayed away from it even if they've tried it because of the possible legal repercussions involved.

 

And, funny enough, I used to get weed fairly easily but it was always a big deal when we could get alcohol being underage (particularly in high school, not so much in college). Now, I can drink anytime I want to, but after moving all over the place, I don't really know anyone that sells weed that I trust and/or I'd want to be cool with. And I think I kinda like it that way; liquor helps with the whole weight thing as opposed to weed which will make me eat so much it'll shut down a buffet.

[Guest Smues]

Before I was 21 of course I wanted the age lowered, and now that I'm over 21 I of course don't really want it lowered as I don't want a bunch of teenagers in the bars I go to. But overall, I'd be ok with a drop to 18, if for no other reason than the fact that you can serve in the military at 18, and even be drafted if they were to ever re-instate the draft. I think it's a load of horseshit that a man (or woman) can die for his (or her) country in Iraq, but not have a beer with his fellow soldiers when he gets back. Also, I'd prefer 19 to 18, as it lowers the age, but keeps it illegal for most high school kids.

[Ripper 0]

Its just plain dumb to lower it. All you are doing is adding more drunks. The ones that won't drink because they want to wait till they are legal.

 

If its so easy to get alcohol before you are 21, then those people shouldn't care what the drinking age is. For everyone else, you are just putting more drinkers out ther for no reason.

[SuperJerk 0]

Before I was 21 of course I wanted the age lowered, and now that I'm over 21 I of course don't really want it lowered as I don't want a bunch of teenagers in the bars I go to. But overall, I'd be ok with a drop to 18, if for no other reason than the fact that you can serve in the military at 18, and even be drafted if they were to ever re-instate the draft. I think it's a load of horseshit that a man (or woman) can die for his (or her) country in Iraq, but not have a beer with his fellow soldiers when he gets back. Also, I'd prefer 19 to 18, as it lowers the age, but keeps it illegal for most high school kids.

 

The prospect of legalizing someone picking up a drunk high school girl at a bar is pretty disturbing.

[Red Baron 0]

18 and 19 in Canada. No qualms there, and really it's not that big of a deal.

 

Except in Quebec. You are born with a bottle of wine in your hand

[Epic Reine 0]

I'm gonna say no on this one. While people under 21 can still get alcohol with the greatest of ease and get into certain bars (a lot of bars don't ID in Queens which I find laughable), all lowering the age really does is giving incentive for the age to be lowered even more. With an age limit like 21, a lot of people are still gonna make an effort at least to cover their own ass and keep the young ones away from booze. You guys say 18 and a few years down the line there will be people bitching for 16 since a lot of high school freshmen start drinking at 14 and all this really adds up to is more alcoholics. I feel that even when you're fresh out of high school, you're not responsible enough to drink and like what was said before, the last thing we all need is annoying teenagers at our bars, that's just my opinion.

[JaMarcus Russell's #1 Caucasian Fan 0]

I'm against it because 1. I don't want to be around bunch of punk ass teenagers who don't know how to hold their booze to the bars and clubs I go to. 2. Its an excuse for colleges to not be liable when some underage kid dies over- drinking or doing something stupid when they drink and 3. If I had to wait until I was 21 to legally buy booze (I also partook in underage drinking), then people who aren't 21 should have to wait too. I agree with Ripper, if 18-20 year olds have access to it already they why lower it? It would just have more drunks on the street.

 

I think "If an 18 year old can go to war and die the they should be able to purchase booze" line is bullshit is because today (unlike the days before the draft) the military is voluntary. Nobody is forcing 18 years olds to go to war, they can willfully do that themselves. Drinking and buying booze is not a right, its a privilege that honestly adults should only have. Also a right that 18 years old did gain from the fallout of the 1960s (voting) is something they barely exercise anyways. Is it really that important that a teenager can't to go out a buy beer? Wait till your fucking 21, whippersnapper. I'm surely not going to boo-hoo the fact that some kid couldn't wait 3 years to go some club or concert. Wait your turn, I say.

[Smartly Pretty 0]

I'm with Epic Reine, let's make it 16.

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

There is no debate.... The answer is no. People can get their hands on heroin when they're not supposed to. Doesn't make it a great idea to let them slide.

 

Though, I do say, let the jarheads drink.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

The obvious solution to this whole mess..

 

Re-enact the 18th amendment

 

 

[MFer 0]

My main issue is the thought by many that "18-year olds are immature, blah blah blah" yet they, by definition and law, are classified as legal adults (but can't have alcohol). You can't have it both ways IMO; either make the "age of majority (license)" 21 or lower the drinking age to 18.

[Jingus 0]

Well the question is, has anyone really had that hard a time getting alcohol/getting drunk before they were of legal age? Just like Marijuana, is there anyone you know that has actually really wanted to try it, but refused to merely because it was "illegal" ?

To be honest, actually I have known quite a few people that have refused to for that very reason, or have stayed away from it even if they've tried it because of the possible legal repercussions involved.

I was like that. I never drank before I was 21, and never did drugs at all back then, and a lot of that had to do with the fact that you could go to jail for it, plain and simple. If it were legal earlier, I probably would've tried it earlier. However I don't think my behavior while drunk would've altered, since I was still mostly the same person at 21 that I was at 18 and hadn't really changed much.

 

The prospect of legalizing someone picking up a drunk high school girl at a bar is pretty disturbing.

As long as they're above the state's age of consent and you didn't actually supply them with the alcohol yourself, there's no law against picking up drunk teenage chicks now.

 

I'm gonna say no on this one. While people under 21 can still get alcohol with the greatest of ease and get into certain bars (a lot of bars don't ID in Queens which I find laughable), all lowering the age really does is giving incentive for the age to be lowered even more.

Slippery Slope argument? Ugh. Can we put those on the list with Nazi comparisons as tactics which should be disqualified from online debates?

 

Its an excuse for colleges to not be liable when some underage kid dies over- drinking or doing something stupid when they drink

But we're not talking about underage kids. We're talking about legal adults. And schools mostly already ban any alcoholic drinks on school property, so they're not legally liable anyway unless you can prove they're intentionally subverting their own rules.

 

I think "If an 18 year old can go to war and die the they should be able to purchase booze" line is bullshit is because today (unlike the days before the draft) the military is voluntary. Nobody is forcing 18 years olds to go to war, they can willfully do that themselves. Drinking and buying booze is not a right, its a privilege that honestly adults should only have.

But when you're 18, you are an adult. You can vote, own property, own guns, drive, have kids, get a job where people will shoot at you, and do it all legally. Why is drinking the one thing which has an arbitrarily higher age of consent? It's illogical, and saying "well I think drinking rates might go up" or "if I had to wait, so does everyone else, goddammit" aren't good arguments in favor of that artificial limit.

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

I think they should lower the drinking age to 4.

[snuffbox 0]

21 has worked so well, we should raise it to 31. Then we'll really get something done around here. We need to ban more stuff, too.

[Red Baron 0]

Make it 19.

 

Seriously, there is nothing wrong with buying alcohol at 19. You guys are over analyzing the whole fucking situation.