The Drinking Age Should be Lowered to 18

[Mickey~Mouse]

now way to lower the drinking age! I always felt the driving age should go up!!! 16 to drive? are you kidding me? I was never good at that age! and then when I would drink! forget it!! I have always felt it was to young to drive!! even then.

 

[Chloe'sMom]

I vote not.

That is the way I feel as well which is why I think the age to enlist in the Military should be raised to 21. To many 18 year olds fall for the advertised version of the Army - pay for college, travel the world, an ability to self-procolmate honor. When the truth is that it is a potentially very DANGEROUS decision that may cost you your life. And that you EARN honor by choosing to be there because of that reason - you are willing to put your life on the line for the greater good.

Smoking should be illegal to 21 as well - although I seriously doubt it would do any good. I smoked from the age of 13 to the age of 17 and then quit. Right before it became "legal" for me to do so.

Voting is the only item I would like to see stay at 18.

~Amanda

 

[Galahad]

That is the way I feel as well which is why I think the age to enlist in the Military should be raised to 21. To many 18 year olds fall for the advertised version of the Army - pay for college, travel the world, an ability to self-procolmate honor. When the truth is that it is a potentially very DANGEROUS decision that may cost you your life. And that you EARN honor by choosing to be there because of that reason - you are willing to put your life on the line for the greater good.

Smoking should be illegal to 21 as well - although I seriously doubt it would do any good. I smoked from the age of 13 to the age of 17 and then quit. Right before it became "legal" for me to do so.

Voting is the only item I would like to see stay at 18.

~Amanda

I agree!! With all of this.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

I agree that the drinking age should be lowered to 18, but I don't agree with the rest of your post. There are very few 18 year olds who want to "get drunk" with their parents, for one thing.

The drinking age was 18 when I was 18. At 18, I moved to the college town where I still live, 33 years later. The drinking age is 21 and there is one heck of a lot more binge drinking and driving going on than when I was in college. I remember the dorm sponsoring daquiri parties for us. We also used to be able to walk to see a free movie on the Plaza at campus or a free concert and bring a cooler with beer.

Now alcohol is strictly off limits everywhere on campus, and college students are going wild with binge drinking. I do think there is a connection. I think when they can get hold of illegal, prohibited alcohol they're just going crazy. If alcohol was legal, sure there would be some drunken partying, but not to the extreme there is now.

 

[Chuck S]

I happen to be a Republican but the history of my very blue state, which has been controlled in the House and Senate for years by democrats, changed the law from 18 to 21 years ago. I think you will find this issue is really non partisan. I doubt you could find a democratic legislature in any blue state that would even introduce a bill and expect to get it passed in any state.

I think you'll find that most states changes the drinking age from 18 to 21 because the federal government was going to withhold highway funds, unless they complied.

 

[DawnCt1]

I haven't had time to read any of this since I left to go shopping. I just came home to get my Macy's coupons and I am headed back out. That said; the conversation started because her SIL left. She was described as rigid and "out of touch" with teen behavior and the common idea that all teens drink, etc. Her SIL is rigid, somewhat remote and not the warmest person on the block. HOWEVER She has a son with asperger's who got a perfect score on the verbal of his SATs and no doubt deliberately missed two questions on the math portion because he knew it would bring him unwanted attention. He graduated valedictorian. She has a DD who is very attractive and graduated last year as Saluditorian . Neither one has ever been a problem growing up. Neither one served so much as a detention in high school or grade school. If she says that neither one drank in high school, I would believe her. Her DD was an athletic scholar for every season in high school. They are both now attending a well known Massachusetts College on almost full scholarships. Her DS diagnosed himself with aspergers (sp) although everyone who met him knew but could never say anything to his parents. He is doing wonderful. Absolutely blossoming in college because he knows his "weaknesses" and figured out how to deal with them.Now I am not saying she and her DH are perfect parents or the friendliest people in the world but they did something right.

 

[luvyawdw]

Well, where we live in PA allowing your under 21 child drink is in fact against the law. And there are very stiff penalties for it. For one it is coruption of a minor.
I do understand you feeling it would keep kids safe to be able to stay home and drink but it probalbly would not work that way. Many kids would then feel if its ok to drink at home with family then I should be able to drink anywhere. I was a bartender for 8 years, and was quite young at the time, started at 21. I can remember our management catching many underagers with false ID, they got caught mostly because they gave themselves away, meaning, they could not handle drinking in moderation and almost always were intoxicated to point of being unmanageable, and sick.
Believe me, my friends and I used to have the same conversations as you are right now. I felt just like you. But you will probably change your mind as you get a bit older. It really is a law for saftey in many ways.
I lived in Fl when drinking age was 18, and remember many seniors in my high school going clubing on school nights, missing the next day and developing a bad habit. Some eventually dropping out just to party. Sad

 

[eclectics]

You know, when I was 18 and drinking, I just didn't see the problem. I still disagree that the age should have ever gone to 21. You can smoke at 18, you can vote at 18, you can do everything at 18. Why the scourge on drinking?

And, FWIW, I am a 100% tea-totaler. Don't drink at all.

I grew up when the drinking age was 18. I don't know the stats, but I don't seem to recall any more numbers of drunk driving deaths or fraternity hazing incidents than there are today. In fact, there seem to be more incidents today than there were back then, unless it's just being reported more now.

 

[alldiz]

Because teenagers would then to be able to "party" at home with their parents (and friends) and not die because of alcohol intoxication or drunk driving. Furthermore, kids and their friends would be happy to be able to get drunk in the safety of a parental supervised party. What do you think?

I disagree with my own post. Alcohol is already very easy for teens to get with age at 21. We have already had the experience in our state, and other neighboring states of an 18 year old drinking age and it was a disaster. 18 year olds still have the neurons and synapses of teenagers. Legal drinkers attending high school, or knowing a lot of kids that attend high school and middle would make alcohol even more widely available to the underaged. Secondly, I can't imagine that a lot of 18 year olds would really want to get intoxicated while partying with their parents. Further more, those parents would still be civilly responsible for any disaster that occurred as a results of the ongoings in their home. Thirdly, alcohol is a substance of rebellion. The "job" of teens is to rebel. The job of parents is to limit the scope of rebellion. If alcohol is no longer a symbol of rebellion, what will be the next step? Increased drug use which is bad enough.

a little devils advocate
Kerri

 

[gina2000]

I have no idea if the age should be lowered. It was 18 when I was a teenager and while I did have an occasional glass of wine, I never drove after having a drink. "Drinking" and "having a glass of wine" are two totally different concepts to me. I was taught to have a glass of wine or two with dinner and to behave responsibly while doing so. There is really no way to "go drinking" and behave responsibly unless you have a non-drinking designated driver. Actually, the whole concept of "going drinking" isn't a responsible one and I shudder when people talk about doing it.

We need to change our whole philosophy about alcohol usage. It isn't entertainment but too many people use it as if it is.

 

[RoyalMidnight]

I completely agree with the OP.
You're old enough to marry, serve your country in the Military, drive, vote - and not drink?

MADD pushed through the 18 -to- 21 law when I was in the US; I was 19, and suddenly, I couldn't go to clubs again, for two more years. Stupid.

 

[bluefairy13]

I completely agree with the OP.
You're old enough to marry, serve your country in the Military, drive, vote - and not drink?

.

You might want to read a little more before you agree with the OP.

 

[WatchinCaptKangaroo]

Either lower the drinking age or raise the enlistment and voting age.

If you are old enough to understand what you are doing when you enlist in the military and understand the voting process you are old enough to understand the ramifications of drinking to excess.

 

[DawnCt1]

More often than not? Really? What percentage of 18 year olds drink? What percentage get into drunk driving accidents?

The goal should be to reduce the problems associated with drinking, right? Strict prohibition against all drinking doesn't get rid of the problem. Teaching kids about alcohol, proper behavior, etc. needs to be part of that.

Here are some interesting statistics.
http://www.cspinet.org/booze/mlpafact.htm

Fact Sheet:
Lowering the Minimum Drinking Age Is a Bad Idea

State Age-21 laws are one of the most effective public policies ever implemented in the Nation...I am chagrined to report that some supposedly responsible officials would like to repeal them.(1)

Jim Hall, Chairman
National Transportation Safety Board

In 1984, Congress passed the National Minimum Purchase Age Act, to encourage each state to enact a minimum legal purchase age (MLPA) of 21 by 1986. The result was impressive: an estimated 1,071 lives were saved in 1987 alone. From 1975 - 1996, the estimated number of lives saved reached nearly 17,000.(2) In addition to a 63% decline in alcohol-related crash fatalities among young drivers since 1982, findings show that the MLPA has decreased the number of DWI arrests, youth suicides, marijuana use, crime, and alcohol consumption by youth.(3,4)


Youth Alcohol Consumption

High school seniors who could not legally drink until age 21 drank less before age 21 and between ages 21 - 25 than did seniors in states with lower drinking ages.(5,6) Similarly, a national survey of 16 - 21 year-olds found that teens from states with a higher MLPA drank less frequently.(7)
The 1978 National Study of Adolescent Drinking Behavior found that 10th - 12th graders in states with lower drinking ages drank significantly more, were less likely to abstain from alcohol, and were drunk more often than students in states with a drinking age of 21.(8)
A study of New York college students documented that students who began drinking at younger ages were more likely to drink heavily in college. They were also more likely to report alcohol-related problems such as trouble at work, with friends, family, and police.(9)
The behavior of 18 year-olds is particularly influential on youth ages 15 - 17, as young people typically imitate the practices of those who are slightly older, rather than the practices of those who are significantly older.(10) Therefore, if 18 year-olds can legally drink, their immediate, younger peers will drink too.
Fatalities, Crashes, and DWI Arrests

State motor vehicle fatality data from the 48 continental states found that lowering the MLPA for beer from 21 to 18 during the 1970s resulted in an 11% increase in fatalities among this age group.(11)
An Arizona Department of Public Safety report found that fatal accidents increased over 25% while traffic fatalities increased more than 35% after the state MLPA was lowered from 21 to 19.(12)
A Michigan study found that police reports of “had been drinking” crashes increased 35%, while the incidence of nighttime single-vehicle crashes among young men increased 17% after the state reduced its MLPA from 21 to 18.(13) Another Michigan study found that DWI arrests increased 141% for 18 - 20 year-olds after the state lowered the MLPA. Roadside surveys showed that the proportion of 16 - 20 year-old drivers with blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) over .05 more than doubled.(14)
Other Alcohol-Related Problems

The younger a person begins using alcohol, the greater the chance of developing alcohol dependence or abuse some time in their life. Of those who begin drinking at age-18, 16.6% subsequently are classified with alcohol dependence and 7.8% with alcohol abuse. If a person waits until age-21 before taking their first drink, these risks decrease by over 60%.(15)
The earlier a person begins using alcohol, the greater the risk of current and adult drug use(16, 17) and harm to the developing brain.(18)
Between 1979 and 1984, the suicide rate was 9.7% greater among adolescents and young adults who could legally consume alcohol than among their peers who could not.(19)
Using national data on alcohol and drug use among high school seniors from 1976 - 1987, one study found a decrease in marijuana use associated with increases in the MLPA.(20)
In raising the MLPA from 18 to 21, states observed an average 16% decrease in the rate of vandalism arrests, compared to an average 1.7% increase in states with a constant MLPA of 18.(21)
In Australia, lowering the drinking age was associated with an increase of 20% to 25% in cases of male delinquency.(22)
An Australian study of two states that lowered their MLPA found “a significant increase” in hospital admissions as a result of non-traffic alcohol-related accidents.(23)
References

 

[Chattyaholic]

They did lower the drinking age from 21 down to 18 when DH and I got married back in 1975. I don't think it stayed that way long. They put it back. I think 21 is fine. Even 21 sometimes is not "responsible" enough. I think there would be even more irresponsible college drinking/partying if the age was lowered to 18.

 

[Poppinsme]

But why does the government get to set that standard.

They should stay out of my family business.

Because there are 50 year olds that want to have sex with 10 year olds.
Thats why the government sets a standard.

As far as drinking it should be 18. If you can fight in a war and vote then whats the deal with having a drink of alcohol?
I grew up with wine served at meals.

 

[malibuconlee]

18 year olds can enter into legally binding contracts, they get credit cards. They are legally able to enlist in the military, they are able to make the decision to put their lives on the line for our country, but society has deemed they are unable to make a personal decision as to whether to drink wine with a nice dinner in a restauant or not. It really doesn't make sense to me.

I totally agree.

 

[bluefairy13]

Because there are 50 year olds that want to have sex with 10 year olds.
Thats why the government sets a standard.

I said that standard. Not every standard! Excuse me but that was a pretty weird comment! Who is talking about sex predators!!!???

 

[cruise-o-matic]

When I was 17 1/2, they changed the age from 18 to 19 in NC. We always found a way to get beer, even if we had to drive aroung the local college to find someone.

It was 18 in SC though. About 3 weeks before graduation, we had a Club trip to Myrtle Beach.....and got busted for open container in front of Ripleys. Needless to say, it was a well kept secret for the next few weeks. But between our pre-grad trip and grad trip back to Myrtle, SC passed a law and immediately raised it to 19. That sucked.

When I went to college, I had a fake ID most of my freshman year to get into bars. But there were mixers in the dorm almost every Thur or Fri night and they never carded. When I was 20 1/12, they upped the age to 21.

Now the campus is alcohol free, forcing the kids off campus (and potentially driving more). So the behavior hasn't changed, but now they treated as criminals.

 

[Luv'sTink]

No, I do not think it should be lowered.