NationStates Jolt Archive

Should the Legal drinking age in the USA be lowered to 18?

At 18 a person is allowed to drive, Vote and join the Army.

So why can't a person drink?

Should the Legal drinking age in the USA be lowered to 18?

At 18 a person is allowed to drive, Vote and join the Army.

So why can't a person drink at 18?

Have to agree on this one. This was legislation put up primarily to cut down on drunk driving. The drinking age USED to be 18, but that ended about 20 years ago here in the greater NYC tristate.

Yes, they should be able to drink at a younger age. You are tried as an adult, but can't have a beer? Makes no sense.

I don't know why you're not allowed to drink at age 18, but if you want everything to be like it is in other countries, you should raise the driving age to 18, too.

It's been 18 for ages down here in Australia

So you vote in at least one election sober.

They're not allowed to drink alcohol because the people of America told Congress to raise the age to 21 to help curve off the obscene amount of drunk driving deaths.

I'm not sure if it still is, but at one time, the number one way of dying for 18-20 year olds was drunk driving.

Yeah, damn straight! Although it's always funny to watch American exchange students come over here, get drunk off two or three beers, run around like demented five-year olds laughing at all the quaint real-ale drinkers and then fall over in a pile of sick.. oh wait that's me ;)

I don't know why you're not allowed to drink at age 18, but if you want everything to be like it is in other countries, you should raise the driving age to 18, too.

The age you're allowed to get a full driving license in the UK is 17. 16 if you want to drive mopeds and small motorcycles.

The legal age of adulthood, which means voting, drinking and other lovely (and not so lovely) stuff, is 18. The age of consent, which means legally being able to have sex and get married (with parental permission), is 16. You can get married at 18 if you couldn't give a stuff what your parents think.

The voting age shouldn't be 18. Unlike our European cousins, we would abuse the priviledge and the resulting situation wouldn't be good. While I am 20, and it would be alot easier for me to get beer, I have enough sense to say that it should remain at 21 for America.

Still, it can't be that hard for you to get drunk. Honestly...hardly a week goes by...

The age you're allowed to get a full driving license in the UK is 17. 16 if you want to drive mopeds and small motorcycles.

The legal age of adulthood, which means voting, drinking and other lovely (and not so lovely) stuff, is 18. The age of consent, which means legally being able to have sex and get married (with parental permission), is 16. You can get married at 18 if you couldn't give a stuff what your parents think.
In Switzerland you need to be 18 for a full driving license, but you can drive mopeds and tractors as soon as you're 14. (small motorcycles: 16).
legal age of adulthood is 18, too, but with drinking it's 16 for beer and wine, and 18 for liquor.

In Switzerland you need to be 18 for a full driving license, but you can drive mopeds and tractors as soon as you're 14. (small motorcycles: 16).
legal age of adulthood is 18, too, but with drinking it's 16 for beer and wine, and 18 for liquor.

Oh, one thing I forgot: You can drink alcohol at 16 in the UK, if you are in the restaurant section of a public house that is equipped to serve food, and it is with a meal. The legal age to drink alcohol with parental permission is, believe it or not, 5.

Oh, one thing I forgot: You can drink alcohol at 16 in the UK, if you are in the restaurant section of a public house that is equipped to serve food, and it is with a meal. The legal age to drink alcohol with parental permission is, believe it or not, 5.
haha, i can just picture a mother telling her not quite 5 year old kid 'I'm so sorry, but you're not legally allowed to drink alcohol yet.' :)

haha, i can just picture a mother telling her not quite 5 year old kid 'I'm so sorry, but you're not legally allowed to drink alcohol yet.' :)

Well I think it's so Mummy can let little Tarquin have a taste of the bubbly stuff to see what it tastes like without feeling a policeman's hand on her shoulder. ;)

And I think there is also a 16 rule, similar to the Swiss, with farm and army vehicles.

Well I think it's so Mummy can let little Tarquin have a taste of the bubbly stuff to see what it tastes like without feeling a policeman's hand on her shoulder. ;)

And I think there is also a 16 rule, similar to the Swiss, with farm and army vehicles.
I think it's pretty much the same in all of Europe... legal drinking/voting/driving/etc. age

I personally think alcohol should be banned altogether. I even posted 2 prohibition proposals in the NSUN (I became too lazy after that to keep on ranting about something that, unfortunately, no one listens to.)

Anyway, if alcohol were illegal, AND there was enough law enforcement to cover that law (unlike what the US did in the '20s), then drunk driving would cease altogether. I would be able to drive after 9:00 PM and not see a drunkard urinating on a telephone pole. The percent of US people in poverty would decrease sharply (mainly because of the fact that these people would stop spending their money on booze and get a job, and some decent amount of money to support themselves, maybe a family if they have one...

I personally think alcohol should be banned altogether. I even posted 2 prohibition proposals in the NSUN (I became too lazy after that to keep on ranting about something that, unfortunately, no one listens to.)

Anyway, if alcohol were illegal, AND there was enough law enforcement to cover that law (unlike what the US did in the '20s), then drunk driving would cease altogether. I would be able to drive after 9:00 PM and not see a drunkard urinating on a telephone pole. The percent of US people in poverty would decrease sharply (mainly because of the fact that these people would stop spending their money on booze and get a job, and some decent amount of money to support themselves, maybe a family if they have one...
I don't agree with this. If alcohol was banned, people would find some other drug to replace it, and all the problems you mentioned would still exist. Alcohol isn't the problem, it's just one possible solution ;)

of course..........provide poison to anyone interested in consuming it. Since other forms of death are legal, its the only way. ;)

of course..........provide poison to anyone interested in consuming it. Since other forms of death are legal, its the only way. ;)
ah, but what isn't poison? it all depends on the quantity, doesn't it? ;)

Eliminate the age, but raise the penalty for abusing it. For example, death for all the murderers who were "driving drunk" would be a good start.

Eliminate the age, but raise the penalty for abusing it. For example, death for all the murderers who were "driving drunk" would be a good start.

STOP READING MY MIND YOU PSYCHIC PERSON!!!111

lol j/k :D

in any case, that is exactly what I was thinking

Eliminate the age, but raise the penalty for abusing it. For example, death for all the murderers who were "driving drunk" would be a good start.

I don't necessarily oppose that. There would have to be considerations to be taken, but yeah, I think that drunk drivers should get the death penalty.

LOL!

I just learned that the penalty for DUI in El Salvador is execution by firing squad!

Thats where I'm going once Bush starts up the Draft.

I would agree, completely remove the age limit, that invisible line does more harm than good in the overall scheme of things. In fact, legalize all drugs, have no age limit at all.





I probably would have difficulty getting this passed in Congress. :p

I agree. I drink anyway, and I'm only 19, 20 in December... I mean, if I can vote, then, why can't I drink? It's stupid.

I could be wrong, but doesn't drinking before reaching the end of puberty mess you up when you're all grown up? I think the age should stay. So what if in Europe they let them drink when they're younger. You know in Europe they drive on the left side of the road, or that they use the metric system? We're different.

I personally think alcohol should be banned altogether. I even posted 2 prohibition proposals in the NSUN (I became too lazy after that to keep on ranting about something that, unfortunately, no one listens to.)

Anyway, if alcohol were illegal, AND there was enough law enforcement to cover that law (unlike what the US did in the '20s), then drunk driving would cease altogether. I would be able to drive after 9:00 PM and not see a drunkard urinating on a telephone pole. The percent of US people in poverty would decrease sharply (mainly because of the fact that these people would stop spending their money on booze and get a job, and some decent amount of money to support themselves, maybe a family if they have one...

Didn't we try that in 20s? People will get drunk, and they will die, because amature brewers, would use anything to make some booze. You would have to move down South, where all the moonshiners are, to get some good beer. ;)

On a short aside, I'm currently enjoying me some booze.

I could be wrong, but doesn't drinking before reaching the end of puberty mess you up when you're all grown up? I think the age should stay. So what if in Europe they let them drink when they're younger. You know in Europe they drive on the left side of the road, or that they use the metric system? We're different.
Drinking at any age can mess you up pretty bad. Wasn't it something like 1 in 20 Americans is an alcoholic? I'll need to find the source. In any case, drinking at all can be fine in moderation, or bad in abuse. It's up to the user to be RESPONSIBLE about it, not the government's position.


EDIT: Ah, 18 million Americans are alcoholics. That's nearly 1 in 15. Wow.

Drinking at any age can mess you up pretty bad. Wasn't it something like 1 in 20 Americans is an alcoholic? I'll need to find the source. In any case, drinking at all can be fine in moderation, or bad in abuse. It's up to the user to be RESPONSIBLE about it, not the government's position.

Unfortunately, most of the people in the US who drink alcohol are too dumb to know how to use anything in moderation. I only know a handful that can REGULARLY drink, and not get drunk over it.

This leads to other problems: rape, murder, abortions of someone who consensually had sex with an alcoholic (although I believe that is statutory rape now, but im still not sure)

Bottom line: If people actually got the very thought of booze out of their minds, the world would be a much better place. Im not suggesting something like the 18th amendment, im suggesting threateneing drunkards with execution (at least while Bush is president, to make him look bad)

I could be wrong, but doesn't drinking before reaching the end of puberty mess you up when you're all grown up? I think the age should stay. So what if in Europe they let them drink when they're younger. You know in Europe they drive on the left side of the road, or that they use the metric system? We're different.



Didn't we try that in 20s? People will get drunk, and they will die, because amature brewers, would use anything to make some booze. You would have to move down South, where all the moonshiners are, to get some good beer. ;)

Um, actually, I have been to Europe, and only the UK drives on the left side of the road. (Yes, I know about Australia and NZ, but they are NOT in Europe!) The metric system is so simple. We are the ONLY country that does not use it! (At least that is what I have heard). Yes we ARE different. That is the problem, we are different, and people resent our Democracy, blah, blah, blah.

Bottom line: If people actually got the very thought of booze out of their minds, the world would be a much better place.
No amount of legislation could ever do this. People will always find another way to get high. People sniff glue, drink cough syrup, eat naturally occuring plants, create drugs in laboratories...

People will always be trying to get high.

It should be a personal choice, one they make with access to the most information possible (Sorry D.A.R.E., your "Just say no" wasn't very helpful), and they learn from their mistakes, and have opportunities to enter rehab, AA, etc.

Trying to prosecute this away will never work, and only criminalizes a fairly large percentage of Americans.

In Puerto Rico the age is 18 and there is no problem. I think USA should be 18 as well. HOWEVER, alcohol in the US is projected as a sort of "holy grail" or a "cancer", because now if you are under age and even ask you can be arrested. Here, you can be under that age, no one cares, I have been drinking since age 14, and its jsut social, not to get plastered. Thats the thing in the US, it is so hard to get if you are underage, you drink in excess when given the chance. So if the children are adapted to the custom of casual, social drinking; rather than binge drinking. Lowering the drinking age would be fine.

I'm 15, and I think the drinking age should stay where it is. So many of my peers go out and get drunk every weekend; just imagine if they had less restricted access to any alcoholic beverage they wanted.

I'm 15, and I think the drinking age should stay where it is. So many of my peers go out and get drunk every weekend; just imagine if they had less restricted access to any alcoholic beverage they wanted.

Once you turn 21, much of the appeal of going out and getting drunk fades. Alot of the appeal in getting drunk when you're underage is the fact that it's illegal.

In Puerto Rico the age is 18 and there is no problem. I think USA should be 18 as well. HOWEVER, alcohol in the US is projected as a sort of "holy grail" or a "cancer", because now if you are under age and even ask you can be arrested. Here, you can be under that age, no one cares, I have been drinking since age 14, and its jsut social, not to get plastered. Thats the thing in the US, it is so hard to get if you are underage, you drink in excess when given the chance. So if the children are adapted to the custom of casual, social drinking; rather than binge drinking. Lowering the drinking age would be fine.
That is EXACTLY the point I was trying to get at. Making alcohol a restricted substance just leads to worse abuse.

I'm 15, and I think the drinking age should stay where it is. So many of my peers go out and get drunk every weekend; just imagine if they had less restricted access to any alcoholic beverage they wanted.
Well then, it seems the "restricted access" is a joke then. :p

I'm 15, and I think the drinking age should stay where it is. So many of my peers go out and get drunk every weekend; just imagine if they had less restricted access to any alcoholic beverage they wanted.

Finally, someone agrees with me.

I still dont get what is the whole thing about getting high? Why do people want to do it so much? I see it in my high school all too much. I know someone (18) incarcerated for DUI and got shafted on major cutting (and perhaps truancy) because his mom was also highly drunk and couldnt bail him out.

Then there's the party pictures. Every Monday i have to put up with teenage girls showing pics of themselves naked at a drunk party. (BTW i think porn is despicable and crappy, yes crappy, i prefer bikini models myself)

Finally, someone agrees with me.

I still dont get what is the whole thing about getting high? Why do people want to do it so much? I see it in my high school all too much. I know someone (18) incarcerated for DUI and got shafted on major cutting (and perhaps truancy) because his mom was also highly drunk and couldnt bail him out.

It's because it's illegal that it's so tempting. If the drinking age were lowered, it would lose that "Hey, I'm a rebel" appeal and kids would be much less inclined to drink in the first place. I can say as someone who recently became of legal age that once I turned 21, getting drunk just for the purpose of getting drunk just wasn't as fun. The only problem is where should the invisible line be drawn?

Yeah, im 1/2way thru puberty, the most rebellious thing I have ever done is not doing my homework, and protesting the republicans in a highly republican school. I dont see thrill in rebellion. Come to think of it, I dont see thrill in almost anything, except when i am installing a new compy game.

Yeah, im 1/2way thru puberty, the most rebellious thing I have ever done is not doing my homework, and protesting the republicans in a highly republican school. I dont see thrill in rebellion. Come to think of it, I dont see thrill in almost anything, except when i am installing a new compy game.

Aside from that sounding kind of sad in a way, that's pretty mature of you to see beyond the typical "Hey, I'm a rebel" mindset and view things for what they are. Personally, I've never understood the appeal in getting drunk for being drunk's sake. It's fun to get drunk to celebrate something, like I did when the Sox won the World Series, but just getting drunk because you can never made sense in my mind.

I still dont get what is the whole thing about getting high? Why do people want to do it so much?
That is an interesting question...perhaps warranting a long discussion at another time.

I personally drink because I'm perpetually depressed, but I'm sure other people have their reasons.

It's because it's illegal that it's so tempting. If the drinking age were lowered, it would lose that "Hey, I'm a rebel" appeal and kids would be much less inclined to drink in the first place. I can say as someone who recently became of legal age that once I turned 21, getting drunk just for the purpose of getting drunk just wasn't as fun. The only problem is where should the invisible line be drawn?
I'm just remembering that Family Guy episode where Peter and Lois show up at a teen drinking party, the cops come in, everyone runs away and they get caught. Cop says, "Aren't you a little old to be drinking illegally?" :p

If people were raised from a young age around alcohol used in moderation, they probably wouldn't have near the problems as someone who gets their eager hands on it illegally.

I really think these age limits do more harm than good.

Yeah, im 1/2way thru puberty, the most rebellious thing I have ever done is not doing my homework, and protesting the republicans in a highly republican school. I dont see thrill in rebellion. Come to think of it, I dont see thrill in almost anything, except when i am installing a new compy game.
Heheh, video games, soma for the thinking man ;)

Aside from that sounding kind of sad in a way, that's pretty mature of you to see beyond the typical "Hey, I'm a rebel" mindset and view things for what they are. Personally, I've never understood the appeal in getting drunk for being drunk's sake. It's fun to get drunk to celebrate something, like I did when the Sox won the World Series, but just getting drunk because you can never made sense in my mind.

Heh, you BoSuxxorz will lose for the next 86 years, curse or no curse! (Im a yankee fan, btw)

I personally think alcohol should be banned altogether. I even posted 2 prohibition proposals in the NSUN (I became too lazy after that to keep on ranting about something that, unfortunately, no one listens to.)

Anyway, if alcohol were illegal, AND there was enough law enforcement to cover that law (unlike what the US did in the '20s), then drunk driving would cease altogether. I would be able to drive after 9:00 PM and not see a drunkard urinating on a telephone pole. The percent of US people in poverty would decrease sharply (mainly because of the fact that these people would stop spending their money on booze and get a job, and some decent amount of money to support themselves, maybe a family if they have one...

I really don't care what your views on alcohol are, but I very much disagree with your views about poverty. I live close to Detroit, and most of the jobless people I know are not jobless because of alcohol. My girlfriend's dad was jobless for about a year, and never touched the stuff. People have a hard time finding jobs, and I think you are wrong in classifying them as lazy drunkards.

Heh, you BoSuxxorz will lose for the next 86 years, curse or no curse! (Im a yankee fan, btw)

Yeah, sure, but who's the World Series champions?

and you still have 26 left to go....

anyway back on topic.

I think I dont rebel not because of a mature mindset, I think its because I'm too lazy to put forth the energy to rebel out of sheer perversity. I only rebel on things when they are important life-changing events that can afflict generations (like the Dead Sox or the GOP winning)... This is a crappy year for Yankee Democrats.

I'm 15, and I think the drinking age should stay where it is. So many of my peers go out and get drunk every weekend; just imagine if they had less restricted access to any alcoholic beverage they wanted.
no social stigma....

Drink to your country; Die for your country. I think you should be able to do both at the same age.

My school is a good microchosm for the problems with restricted access. I attend a private college, the majority of the funding for which comes from a few big donors. One donor, which the college simply cannot afford to lose, has specified that, to be given cent one, the college must be a "dry campus." Drinking age aside, alcohol is banned on this campus. They even take it so far as to include empty containers and cooking wine. Everyone knows it's rediculous, including the administration, but they have to comply or risk going under financially. So, I'm living in a place where the invisible line has been redrawn a bit.
The problem comes in the fact that in spite of it; or rather, because of it, binge drinking is huge on this campus. According to the administration's own posters, which are going to be highly skewed to make the school look good, fully a third of the students on this campus are alcohol abusers. From my own experience (I don't, myself, touch the stuff; I find the taste revolting, so I have plenty of time to observe others), it's at least half.
Drawing the invisible line only encourages people to do it out of rebellion, and causes those who would otherwise use moderation to become substance abusers. I, myself, favor total legalization (of all drugs) without any particular "drinking age," but with an age until which parental permission is required. Power comes out of the hands of the government (federal AND state), and into the family and community, where it belongs. If people want to destroy their own bodies, it's not my business to legislate away their ability to (so long as they do not harm others; in my ideal scenario, though substance use would not be a crime in itself, there would be harsh penalties for any crime committed in conjunction with use).

Each state actually sets the age of drinking. Several decades ago, the Federal Government wanted to raise that age to 21 but could not get an amendment to do so, and laws passed to do so were declared unconstitutional. So the Federal Government began to threaten to withhold funds for highway upkeep and repair. States didnt wish to risk the funding and thus caved in to the governments demands and raised the age to twenty one. Now if anyone thinks that the age of drinking will be lowered back to eighteen under this President is sorely mistaken.

Granted he may have partied in his past but thats no longer true today. I may be Republican but to me this guy is our version of Al Gore. But instead of just being boring he's a religious fruitball.

I think that would be a good plan, considered that we can be drafted and sent to a warzone at 18 and get the death penalty at 18, so why cant we booze ourselves to death at 18? also, recreational drugs should be 18.

Each state actually sets the age of drinking. Several decades ago, the Federal Government wanted to raise that age to 21 but could not get an amendment to do so, and laws passed to do so were declared unconstitutional. So the Federal Government began to threaten to withhold funds for highway upkeep and repair. States didnt wish to risk the funding and thus caved in to the governments demands and raised the age to twenty one.
I had forgotten about that. Seems kind of a strange way of getting laws passed. I wonder how long it will be until the government denies funding for highways in states that allow abortion or gay civil unions?

Now if anyone thinks that the age of drinking will be lowered back to eighteen under this President is sorely mistaken.
That is very true.

I had forgotten about that. Seems kind of a strange way of getting laws passed. I wonder how long it will be until the government denies funding for highways in states that allow abortion or gay civil unions?


Somethings just wont happen. Certains laws agaisnt aborition may just occur but holding back funding for the whole gay civil union thing isnt going to happen. Drinking at eighteen several decades ago caused multiple deaths due to drinking and driving. Of course the country wasnt nearly ready to deal with such an issue as cars became more prevailant throughout US society as a whole and bike riding teens became a thing of the past. So now several decades later we have a law outmoded and for a different age still on the books. Its not going to change. Ever. Thats simple fact. Unless teenagers start to vote...hold on while I snicker...never gonna change.

They're not allowed to drink alcohol because the people of America told Congress to raise the age to 21 to help curve off the obscene amount of drunk driving deaths.

I'm not sure if it still is, but at one time, the number one way of dying for 18-20 year olds was drunk driving.

Do you know what's funny about that? It doesn't seem to have done anything to stop them drinking or making bad decisions at a steady rate.

I think the biggest problem is that parents are relying on legislation to discipline and control their kids, and they're not teaching them moderation or discipline at home. What do they expect? It's not as if the kids are being given the tools to make good decisions. It's not as if the people who brought them up had those qualities in order to be able to teach them.

It should be lowered. Australia has the limit at 18, and everything hasn't collapsed yet...

I for one have always thought there should simply be one age...an age of majority...before which you are a minor and resticted from the adult world, and after, when you are responsible for all your actions.
What sense does it make that you can be asked to die for your country, but are told you don't have the maturity to have a drink?
What sense does it make that you can own and register a firearm, but cant be trusted with a cigarette?
What sense does it make that you can marry with parental permission at 16 but cant rent a pornographic video?
What sense does it make to allow a person behind the wheel of a car, but not allow them to vote?

There needs to be ONE age.

I for one have always thought there should simply be one age...an age of majority...before which you are a minor and resticted from the adult world, and after, when you are responsible for all your actions.
What sense does it make that you can be asked to die for your country, but are told you don't have the maturity to have a drink?
What sense does it make that you can own and register a firearm, but cant be trusted with a cigarette?
What sense does it make that you can marry with parental permission at 16 but cant rent a pornographic video?
What sense does it make to allow a person behind the wheel of a car, but not allow them to vote?

There needs to be ONE age.

I can see the point you're making, that an 18 year old has all of the responsibilities and risks of adulthood, but none of the privileges. I think it's meant to be something like training wheels, though. Let them get used to real life before they can get their hands on the means to fuck it all up, and you know that 18 year olds are good at that.

I've seen it happen a lot. Do you know what invariably happens when you give an 18 year old a big inheritance? They blow it on the worst crap. Without fail, they do it. That's the kind of decisions they make. Would you let an 18 year old make your financial decisions for you? An average 18 year old? I thought not.

Where I am:

Drinking age: 18
Learning to drive age: 15

ofc, the 'drinking age' is really just the 'getting into pubs' age, and even then someone elses old drivers licence


Drink driving deaths are on a decline because its become socially unacceptable.

It should be lowered. Australia has the limit at 18, and everything hasn't collapsed yet...
And we can get all that binge drinking out of the way earlier. :p
And what would Year 12 farewells be without alcohol? Consumed in the girls changerooms while stunned junior kids look on...

Note- I am not condoning binge drinking.

I completely agree. The drinking age here is 18. So usually people start drinking when they are 15. My parents let me drink then, cos they forbade my brother to drink and well he over did it a bit. With me I was given drink at 15 and I can honestly say I drink very responsibly. 21 is way too old. I was at a frat party in Boston last Feb with mainly 20 and 21 year olds who couldn't hold their drink and they didn't have that much like about 4 pints in the space of 5 hours. I'm quite small and while usually I'd never say this and be proud but I drank em under the table and was only tipsy! Although its not much to brag about drinkin more than 4 pints in 5 hours!!

Should the Legal drinking age in the USA be lowered to 18?

At 18 a person is allowed to drive, Vote and join the Army.

So why can't a person drink?
there should not be any drinking age at all. all drugs, including alcohol, should be available to all persons with the legal means to purchase them.

First post. Hooray for Barnas...

I've got a fairly simple take on drinking age. Simply, I've been legally drinking, on my own- no parental presence- since the age of 16. I'm from the UK, and my boarding school has a licensed bar for the use of pupils. It's something I believe the government intends to change, but there we are.

I myself believe that all the "Rights" should be available at 16, since the difference between a kid at 16 and one at 18 is, to be honest, really small. There’s mature 16 year olds, of course, and immature 18 year olds- and vica versa. But that’s life, and I suppose that half the problem with the age questions is trying to work out what the average person of a certain age really is.

Either way, my take on the issue is that drinking since 16 (Legally- probably since 13 illegally) has caused me no problems. Every Saturday night, I’m down the local- don’t get me wrong there- but I’ve been drinking for long enough that getting drunk just for the sake of it no longer has any appeal to me. As such, as I move forward into positions of more responsibility, I’m less likely to risk that by being an idiot with booze.

On the other hand, when a person from a country whose drinking age is 21 starts drinking legally, they’re more likely to be getting drunk more often when they have positions of responsibility. Certainly, when I did an exchange to a US High School…hmm… say 18 months back? I’m really not too sure… either way, the binge drinking was almost as horrid as the beer. And those were the illegal- their siblings (Elder) were often worse.

But there we go…

-Barnas

They're not allowed to drink alcohol because the people of America told Congress to raise the age to 21 to help curve off the obscene amount of drunk driving deaths.
The drinking age is actually determined by the states but the federal government won't give a state highway funds unless the drinking age there is 21. Just one of the many areas in which the Feds call the shots without any legal power, but by withholding purse strings of desired funding.

The drinking age is actually determined by the states but the federal government won't give a state highway funds unless the drinking age there is 21. Just one of the many areas in which the Feds call the shots without any legal power, but by withholding purse strings of desired funding.

This is true. Like there isn't an obesene amount of drinking and driving related deaths and injuries as it it. And ALL OF THEM caused by people over and under 21. People 18 can't drink in bar, so they go to the lake or party or whatever, they HAVE to go home because they weren't meant to be drinking in the first place (so the just stay at your bud's house goes out the window) and BAMN! Front page news the next day.

People over 21 should know better and these days to get a sober driver, or get someone to pick them up. There is always someone that will come get them rather than see them as the next statistic.

IMO, a drinking age of 21 is just ridiculous. That's so old. If parents totally restrict alcohol, then people are just gonna go for it as soon as they can and they won't be able to handle it.

My parents have allowed me to have small amounts of alcohol since I was about 12 (excluding sips of their wine from about the age of eight) and it hasn't done me any harm. Unlike some of my school friends, I don't feel the urge to drink in order to get drunk. I don't have a problem with alcohol, I know my limits and my own tolerance.

I truly believe that if I hadn't been allowed to view alcohol as something normal and social, I may have ended up seeing it as "forbidden fruit".

Man, that took a long time. I just finished reading all of the other posts here. Well, I'm 13, and I don't plan to drink. I think lowering the drinking age would be a good idea. I do think, though, that right after they lowered it, there would be a lot of kids that weren't previously allowed to drink, would get drunk. It wouldn't really be that bad, though. I actually also like the idea to completely abolish the drinking age, and have it be up to the parents. And harsher punishment for drunk drivers.



King of the Badgers

Should the Legal drinking age in the USA be lowered to 18?

At 18 a person is allowed to drive, Vote and join the Army.

So why can't a person drink?

Because they are not mature. Can't handle their booze. We tried it in the '70's and it was a failure. Thank goodness they don't vote! Not that 21 is any better...I'm thinking ...25...30...just keep it about a year behind me.

This is true. Like there isn't an obesene amount of drinking and driving related deaths and injuries as it it. And ALL OF THEM caused by people over and under 21. People 18 can't drink in bar, so they go to the lake or party or whatever, they HAVE to go home because they weren't meant to be drinking in the first place (so the just stay at your bud's house goes out the window) and BAMN! Front page news the next day.

People over 21 should know better and these days to get a sober driver, or get someone to pick them up. There is always someone that will come get them rather than see them as the next statistic.

Well, they at one point in this country (at least in some places. . .I know it was the case in East Texas and West Louisiana), I think it was sometime in the 70's to the very early 80's, the drinking age was 18. The problem was that when this law was in effect, the number of drunk-driving deaths skyrocketed out of all proportion to the actual number of 18-21 year olds available to drink and drive. Thus, the courts made a decision that in light of the overwhelming statistical evidence, it was perfectly acceptable to raise the drinking age back to 21 and ignore the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment for pragmatic grounds. Thus, a lot of states did just that. What areas were left were leveraged into doing it anyway, or risk losing highway funding.

So, what is the moral to this story? Like everything else, all our problems can be chalked up to stupid Texas baby boomers.

And you know, where I live, it's mostly 40-60 year olds driving under the influence. If we lowered the drinking age, I shudder to think how many more drunk drivers would be on the road. I have a feeling that the average age would drop straight to 18-20 again.

I think we need to learn responsibility as a nation. Of course, the brits don't seem to have the problem we have, but I think the kids in the UK are taught a little more maturity by the time they're 18. Not much, but maybe it's the area of life in which maturity grows that makes the difference. Maybe it's the fact that they have public transport in most places, or that you can usually walk home, because your pub isn't far from your front door.

Of course, in Spain, they have some of the most draconian drunk-driving laws anywhere, and they don't seem to have a problem with it. Maybe we should do both, lower the age and make the penalties so severe, and enforce them, that nobody dares get caught driving under the influence.

I can see the point you're making, that an 18 year old has all of the responsibilities and risks of adulthood, but none of the privileges. I think it's meant to be something like training wheels, though. Let them get used to real life before they can get their hands on the means to fuck it all up, and you know that 18 year olds are good at that.

I've seen it happen a lot. Do you know what invariably happens when you give an 18 year old a big inheritance? They blow it on the worst crap. Without fail, they do it. That's the kind of decisions they make. Would you let an 18 year old make your financial decisions for you? An average 18 year old? I thought not.

I didn't suggest that 18 should be the age, just that there should be one age that is set as the divider between adolesence and adulthood, as far as the obligations and rights one should expect. I know 18 year olds I would trust with my financial decisions, I also know 40 year olds I wouldn't trust as far as I could pick them up and throw them. That's a judgement call on my part as to who I want to deal with. I have no problem with training wheels, here in BC we now have a graduated drivers licence system so new drivers do not have the same rights as an experienced driver. The training wheel period should be before the "you are now responsible" period.

Should the Legal drinking age in the USA be lowered to 18?

At 18 a person is allowed to drive, Vote and join the Army.

So why can't a person drink?

Because the rest of us don't want to share the roads with drunk kids.

Because the rest of us don't want to share the roads with drunk kids.
But you're ok with sharing the road with a Pro-Bush kid in daddy's Hummer armed with an AK-47?

But you're ok with sharing the road with a Pro-Bush kid in daddy's Hummer armed with an AK-47?
I think I'd rather share the road with 5 drunk kids than one bush kid with a hummer and an AK-47

*Drinks whiskey*

To think if I was living in the USA i'd have to wait 3 more years for this...

Though I think 16 would be an acceptable limit here. (How many 16 year olds have enough money to spend on booze anyway?)

Can anybody tell me what the hell is so appealing about alchohol in the first place?

Because they are not mature. Can't handle their booze.

The best way to learn is through experience.

Hell yea, lower the drinking age, i'm up for that.

Can anybody tell me what the hell is so appealing about alchohol in the first place?
I'm not exactly sure...

glug glug glug...