Lower the drinking age to 18?

[MushyMushy]

(AP) -- College presidents from about 100 of the nation's best-known universities, including Duke, Dartmouth and Ohio State, are calling on lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18, saying current laws actually encourage dangerous binge drinking on campus.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/08/18/college.drinking.age.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

I don't know about this. While I think a lot of the age limits are pretty arbitrary, I'm not sure I'm buying their argument. I can remember when the drinking age was 18 in some states and we still partied like there was no tomorrow.

 

[DawnCt1]

I disagree. 18 years old will make alcohol all the more readily available to younger teens than it is. It seems to me that the advantage to Duke, and other schools, is that they would have dorms full of legal drinkers and wouldn't feel compelled to insure that underage students weren't drinking. It would be "less work". Not reason enough for me. Binge drinkers are going to binge and lowering the drinking age is not going to change that.

 

[CapeCodTenor]

I have no problem with it. I think if you're old enough to fight and die for your country then you're old enough to drink.

 

[Hercules10]

I have no problem with it. I think if you're old enough to fight and die for your country then you're old enough to drink.

 

[freckles and boo]

I don't care one way or the other, but I do think there should be a common standard for adulthood. There should be one age to serve in the military, vote, be charged as an adult for a crime, play the slots at a casino, drink, buy cigarettes, etc. I don't like the idea of highschoolers being able to legally drink, though.

 

[Laura]

I'm for it.

 

[Hoodie]

I have no problem with it. I think if you're old enough to fight and die for your country then you're old enough to drink.

Exactly.

I'll go to Walter Reed and meet these kids who have lost fingers, legs, eyes, or have scars all over. Many are engaged, yet so many can't go down to the bar and get a beer and couldn't legally have champagne at their wedding.

 

[welovedisneyx4]

I have no problem with it. I think if you're old enough to fight and die for your country then you're old enough to drink.

I agree w/ this as well.

 

[adaygaby]

I don't like the idea of highschoolers being able to legally drink, though.

I agree with you on that. I also remember going to some parties when I was in high school and some kids would be drinking. I don't think it's a good idea and know this still goes on 'til today.

 

[Mermaid02]

I have no problem with it. I think if you're old enough to fight and die for your country then you're old enough to drink.

Agreed- I think you should be 21 before entering the armed forces. I also think you should be 18 before you can get a driver's license.

 

[wall*e2008]

I never wanted the drinking age raise to 21. I came of age in a state that had 18 as the drinking age. I saw less of binge drinking then compared to now. If you are old enough to protect your country, vote for the president and pay stiff penalties for crimes then you are old enough to drink.

 

[Patch'sD]

At 18 most kids are under the watchful eye of their parents. At 21, much less supervision and binge drinking can happen. I would allow it, however no drinking and driving until 21. If you drive at 18 with .001 percentage of alcohol you lose your license till 25.

 

[corndog]

"An 18 year old can get married and screw himself up real good, but he can't buy a beer."

/Mojo Nixon

 

[NowaSki]

I say lower the age; decrease the legal BAC from .08% to .05%. Make the Drunk Driving laws stricter, and the penalties harsher.

I know a lot people don't think Europe is a good example for a lot of things, but this is one place I think they have it right. Most European countries have drinking age of 16, but 18 to get their license. The BAC is .05%. By introducing alcohol at a younger age it demystifies it, and the tendency to binge goes away.

 

[DawnCt1]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/08/18/college.drinking.age.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

I don't know about this. While I think a lot of the age limits are pretty arbitrary, I'm not sure I'm buying their argument. I can remember when the drinking age was 18 in some states and we still partied like there was no tomorrow.

I too lived in the era of the 18 year old drinking age. Seems like there was a LOT of drinking going on. When NY had an 18 year old drinking age and Ct's was still 21, there were a lot of weekend fatalities due to kids driving across the state lines. Here are some stats and some informed opinions;

." Laws setting the drinking age at 21 cut traffic fatalities involving drivers age 18-20 by 13 percent, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study.

Since states' laws differ on the drinking age, the result could be 18- to 20-year-olds traveling across state lines to buy or consume alcohol with sometimes disastrous results.

Adolescents' brains, some studies say, are still developing past the age of 18 and significant alcohol use can interfere in that process."

and then there is this;


A survey of research from the U.S. and other countries by the Centers for Disease Control and others showed that raising the drinking age reduced drunken driving deaths.
Also;

Some officials at local universities say lowering the drinking age would have little impact.

"From the research studies that I've seen ... 50 percent of the students who are drinking have had their first drink before they're 17," said Jenny Hwang, associate dean and director for prevention and outreach at Stony Brook University. "So I don't know that changing the age from 21 to 18 would make much of a difference."

Hofstra University spokeswoman Melissa Connolly said in a statement that there "doesn't now appear to be enough data to conclude that lowering the age would lead to less rather than more drinking."

 

[MainStMandy]

I say lower it. Other countries don't have drinking problems at a young age like we do. The more forbidden it is, the more teens want to try it. It was never a big deal to me because my mom would let me have a drink or 2 with her starting at like 16.

 

[DawnCt1]

I say lower the age; decrease the legal BAC from .08% to .05%. Make the Drunk Driving laws stricter, and the penalties harsher.

I know a lot people don't think Europe is a good example for a lot of things, but this is one place I think they have it right. Most European countries have drinking age of 16, but 18 to get their license. The BAC is .05%. By introducing alcohol at a younger age it demystifies it, and the tendency to binge goes away.

Believe me, for a lot of teens, 14 through 19, alcohol has totally been "demystified". Making it more accessible to younger teens, whose brains are not fully developed, leads to alcohol addiction in later years. I am not going to search now, but alcohol dependence is higher in countries in which access to alcohol at younger ages was readily available.

 

[LisaNJ25]

Exactly.

I'll go to Walter Reed and meet these kids who have lost fingers, legs, eyes, or have scars all over. Many are engaged, yet so many can't go down to the bar and get a beer and couldn't legally have champagne at their wedding.

So true. I was a mom and married at 18 and yet I could not go out for a drink with my husband. I will be honest.. I had an older sister and got fake id. She didnt live in my state. These days it would be next to impossible to get.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

I agree with you on that. I also remember going to some parties when I was in high school and some kids would be drinking. I don't think it's a good idea and know this still goes on 'til today.

It was 18 when I was younger in Ma. It obviously did not work b/c now it is back to 21. I think if you are in the military then you should get special dispensation but for the rest of the kids now way. Then 18 year olds can buy for younger kids. As it stands now older kids do buy for younger kids but there is something about a huge gap between an 18 year old and a 21 year old. College is bad enough. As for driving I think it is just unrealistic for kids to be driving a two ton machine that can kill at 16 now combine that with the easier ablity to get alchol not a good mix.

 

[DawnCt1]

So true. I was a mom and married at 18 and yet I could not go out for a drink with my husband. I will be honest.. I had an older sister and got fake id. She didnt live in my state. These days it would be next to impossible to get.

Actually it is very easy to get an ID that isn't yours. Friends that look similar but who are older, are very willing to 'sell' their driver's licenses, and say that they lost theirs, and get a replacement. It happens all of the time. The chances of a 16 year old having an 18 year old friend, is a lot greater than a 16 having a 21 year old friend.