Do you think the legal drinking age should be lowered?

[dragonfly411]

I agree 100% with 18. At 18 you are considered a legal adult, capable of making adult decisions, voting, buying tobacco, and going into clubs and related atmospheres and acting responsibly, you should be able to drink as well. I know that on a trip overseas with a younger group, they all acted responsibly with the legal drinking age, having a beer or two with dinner, and leaving it otherwise.

 

[fieryred33143]

Date: 8/19/2008 11:08:48 AM
Author: dragonfly411
I agree 100% with 18. At 18 you are considered a legal adult, capable of making adult decisions, voting, buying tobacco, and going into clubs and related atmospheres and acting responsibly, you should be able to drink as well. I know that on a trip overseas with a younger group, they all acted responsibly with the legal drinking age, having a beer or two with dinner, and leaving it otherwise.

That made me giggle.

I think that with the right amount of adult presence to tell these very young adults not to go overboard, then yes they will act responsibly.

But in a college dorm with no adults around, they''ll have a beer or two with dinner. And then 2 more after. And then 3 in the dorm and another 4 at whatever party they''re going to

 

[littlelysser]

Date: 8/19/2008 9:07:47 AM
Author: Tacori E-ring
gogosi, actually in the US a bartender/server *can* be charged if they over serve someone and then they get into an accident (for example). Happened here. But I totally agree it is about abuse. Maybe my views are jaded b/c I went to a ''party'' school. I just think 18 year olds are immature. Is it fair, like so many have mentioned, that they can vote, serve in the military, jury, marry etc but not drink? Well, maybe not. But do I think *that* is a good enough reason to change it...no way. Life''s not that black and white. I do not know the history of why it was raised to begin with. It would be interesting to research though.

Actually, believe it or not, just SERVING alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person is a violation of the law in darn near every state. In PA it is called The Dram Shop Act...and it makes it a crime to serve drunk folks - and of course, makes them liable if there is an accident or other problem.

 

[littlelysser]

As for the OP - I think it should be lowered to 18. Like others, I think Europe is a great example of how it can and does work.

On an interesting aside, DH is Dutch and grew up in Holland, where marijuana is legal.

He has often commented to me that he knows more people in the United States that smoke pot than he did in Holland.

So it seems that making something illegal doesn''t make it any less attainable or less attractive.

 

[blondebunny]

No matter what they change the drinking age to, the say stuff will still happen. I had my first drink when i was 14 years old. I had an older brother who drank, and gave me drinks... I thought nothing of it. Imagine if they changed it to 18, these kids with younger siblings will see them drinking legally, and will probably offer it to their younger siblings. When I was younger, all of my brothers friends would give it to their younger siblings. I mean if the age to buy alcohol is lower, say 18, then even younger kids will probably be getting alcohol since they know someone who is 18 because thats alot easier for a highschooler to find than to find someone 21 to buy them alcohol. Bad idea... just keep it the way it is, but raising it would be hard because of people who are already 21, and can legally drink and then change it to 25, what are you gonna do take away a privilege they already had?!? Thatd be tough... But if they made it 18, you''d have a mad rush to the bars or liquor stores with all those youngins....

 

[vespergirl]

The national drinking age should definitely be lowered to 18. First of all, most 18-20 year olds are drinking at college, so the 21 year old drinking age does nothing but make young adults break the law - it obviously has not discouraged drinking.

I also believe that if the President is willing to maim and murder our 18 year olds by sending them to Iraq, he should at least allow them to have a drink - what, they are responsible enough to handle firearms, but not to ingest an alcoholic beverage?

I have been offered wine since young shildhood by my family, who are immigrants from Europe, and who made wine at home and continue to make wine in Long Island, NY. We would have a drop of wine put into our glass of water at family dinners on Sundays to honor our family heritage. Neither my brother nor I ever participated in binge-drinking when we went to college, because we had been exposed to alcohol our whole lives, and when our parents had a glass of wine with dinner, it stopped there - it accompanied the food, it wasn''t served to get them drunk. I had so many American friends from Puritanical communities where drinking was banned, either by family or churches. They were generally the ones being hauled off with alcohol poisoning, because they didn''t know when enough was enough.

I think a lot of it is the American attitude towards excess in everything - binge drinking, overeating - it''s a culture of not being able to stop when one has had enough.

 

[iluvcarats]

Date: 8/19/2008 4:05:00 AM
Author: pennquaker09
You can die in a war at 18, but you can''t get drunk before you go over to die in said war? I''m not saying one should get drunk, but I don''t quite get the logic.

I agree with Penn.

 

[Anna0499]

Date: 8/19/2008 12:07:34 PM
Author: vespergirl
The national drinking age should definitely be lowered to 18. First of all, most 18-20 year olds are drinking at college, so the 21 year old drinking age does nothing but make young adults break the law - it obviously has not discouraged drinking.

I also believe that if the President is willing to maim and murder our 18 year olds by sending them to Iraq, he should at least allow them to have a drink - what, they are responsible enough to handle firearms, but not to ingest an alcoholic beverage?

Correct me if I''m wrong, but doesn''t Congress set the drinking age? They are, after all, the ones who legislate.

I agree that the age should be lowered; not because I think it would help curb drinking in young adults, but for consistency in the age limits of various activities as several PSers have stated. Young adults will drink no matter what the age limit & I don''t think lowering the age would decrease the incidence of binge drinking, drunk driving, etc. simply because it''s not the age limit that is the main contributing factor in these problems. When kids go off to college or move out on their own, they are no longer under the watchful eye of their parents & want to experiment & exert their independence in various ways. Drinking is one of them.

I also think, however, that the driving age should be increased to 18 because the same arguments can be presented there; i.e. someone is old/mature enough to operate a potentially dangerous vehicle but not to buy cigarettes.

 

[bee*]

Date: 8/19/2008 10:02:46 AM
Author: VegasAngel

Date: 8/19/2008 5:29:53 AM

Author: bee*

Our limit in Ireland is 18 whereas quite a lot of continental Europe have it set at 16. They have far less problems than we do over here as I think that they just grow up with it and are taught as children to have a bit at dinner etc and they don''t abuse it as much. Over here there''s a big build up to have it at 18, so I can only imagine if it were 21. I''ve always found it strange that you can legally get married in the US but not allowed to have your champagne et c at your wedding if you''re under 21

My MIL & FIL (French) said they gave my husband a little wine with his dinner as a kid. As a result alcohol was never a big deal.


I think we should lower the drinking age to 18 & change the minium age for a drivers license to 21.

Yeah I was in France last week (my parent''s have a house there) and there was a baby who was drinking watered down rose with her dinner. It''s just the norm over there. No one has minerals or water with lunch, everyone had small jugs of wine and no one was polluted drunk.

 

[ksinger]

What becomes clear to me at least, from this discussion, is that the real issue is not the drinking age per se, but the cultural attitudes towards alcohol. Could it be perhaps, that America has always had an ambivalent attitude towards alcohol consumption, both culturally and religiously? (We tried prohibition after all.) An ambivalence that Europe has never really shared, and judging by the responses here, just can''t quite understand. Give up wine? Quelle horreur!!

And could it be that there are cultural differences in how we raise our children?

Until that is changed, or at least acknowledged, I don''t see a 3 year fluctuation of the legal drinking age one way or the other doing a whole lot...

 

[galeteia]

Date: 8/19/2008 7:33:31 AM
Author: beau13

Date: 8/19/2008 12:17:32 AM

Author: Galateia

In Canada, the maximum age for drinking is 19. I'm comfortable with that.


That means that by the time you've hit your early to mid-twenties, you've got the 'college drinking' out of your system and you're not spending your nights getting 'hammered' because being drunk isn't a big deal anymore, and you've not had years of pent up frustration to get out of your system.


When I moved down to the US, I was surprised to see how many graduate students(!) went out clubbing. When I was in school, 'clubbing' past the age of 23 was mildly pathetic.



Edit: I hadn't even read the article yet when I posted (my internet was being grumpy) but it seems to be echoing the same points I was getting at, particularly:


'If the age is younger, you're getting exposed to it at a younger age, and you don't freak out when you get to campus.'

I have seen this happen often; particularly with students whose parents preferred being strict over encouraging their children to think for themselves and make mature decisions, once they get to college they go overboard with the heady euphoria of their newfound freedom, unable to cope because they've never had it before.


'He said college students will drink no matter what, but do so more dangerously when it's illegal.' True. You can get cut off by a bartender, but who is going to cut you off at a frat party or a kegger?


But the statement makes clear the signers think the current law isn't working, citing a 'culture of dangerous, clandestine binge-drinking,' Exactly. Drinking was social and relaxed, pounding down shots in a dorm closet wasn't necessary.

I think you meant 'minimum' or age or majority is 19.

Nope, I meant maximum, as in, some provinces it's 18, some 19.

I thought 'minimum' would imply that it was 19 across the board, and my sentences are long enough without getting into the differing ages across Canada.


Back on topic, the drinking age does not stop underage drinking, it just drives it underground and encourages dangerous habits as a result. Drinking was not taboo in my household, and as a result I was never interested in abusing it. When alcohol isn't a Forbidden Fruit, there isn't the same motivation to abuse it.

And really, being 25 before you can go out and have a beer with your dinner with your coworkers?

How would that positively affect anything? How would that do anything except make alcohol more illicit and therefore something abused in private?

Personally, I don't drink because I dislike the taste of alcohol and it was never a big deal so there was no added thrill of doing something forbidden.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Date: 8/19/2008 11:15:59 AM
Author: littlelysser

Date: 8/19/2008 9:07:47 AM

Author: Tacori E-ring

gogosi, actually in the US a bartender/server *can* be charged if they over serve someone and then they get into an accident (for example). Happened here. But I totally agree it is about abuse. Maybe my views are jaded b/c I went to a ''party'' school. I just think 18 year olds are immature. Is it fair, like so many have mentioned, that they can vote, serve in the military, jury, marry etc but not drink? Well, maybe not. But do I think *that* is a good enough reason to change it...no way. Life''s not that black and white. I do not know the history of why it was raised to begin with. It would be interesting to research though.

Actually, believe it or not, just SERVING alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person is a violation of the law in darn near every state. In PA it is called The Dram Shop Act...and it makes it a crime to serve drunk folks - and of course, makes them liable if there is an accident or other problem.

Yes I know. It happened here. I doubt they would arrest them unless there was an accident or problem.

 

[TravelingGal]

Well, to put in my two cents - even though I do think some 18 year olds can''t handle booze, neither can a lot of 40 year olds I know. For me, this issue is more black and white. If you are considered adult and can go to war, go to prison for life because you are tried as an adult, etc etc, you should be able to buy a beer.

To say, "you are legally now viewed as an adult, but....you can''t do this." is strange.

 

[somethingshiny]

I agree that if you can fight in a war, vote, etc, you should be able to have a drink.

BUT, I think a big reason for holding off until 21 is because of the number of people that age who are still growing. I grew until I was 20, my baby sis just turned 18 a few months ago and she is still growing. Drinking could cause serious harm in those cases.

What I wonder about more is why do you have to be 25 to rent a hotel room?? That''s really wack!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Date: 8/19/2008 4:21:49 PM
Author: somethingshiny
I agree that if you can fight in a war, vote, etc, you should be able to have a drink.


BUT, I think a big reason for holding off until 21 is because of the number of people that age who are still growing. I grew until I was 20, my baby sis just turned 18 a few months ago and she is still growing. Drinking could cause serious harm in those cases.


What I wonder about more is why do you have to be 25 to rent a hotel room?? That''s really wack!

I think you have to be 25 to rent a car too....


Also someone mentioned how drinking is a drug and addiction is a scary thing.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 8/19/2008 4:24:38 PM
Author: Tacori E-ring

Date: 8/19/2008 4:21:49 PM
Author: somethingshiny
I agree that if you can fight in a war, vote, etc, you should be able to have a drink.


BUT, I think a big reason for holding off until 21 is because of the number of people that age who are still growing. I grew until I was 20, my baby sis just turned 18 a few months ago and she is still growing. Drinking could cause serious harm in those cases.


What I wonder about more is why do you have to be 25 to rent a hotel room?? That''s really wack!

I think you have to be 25 to rent a car too....


Also someone mentioned how drinking is a drug and addiction is a scary thing.

I''ve never heard about 25 to rent a room. I rented them all the time before I was 25, both for business and pleasure.

The car thing, while inconvenient (and it seriously was when I was in sales when I was 23 and traveling), I can understand. It''s a business, and if someone wants to buy vehicles costing thousands, they can decide how they want to run their business.

But this is the GOVERNMENT telling me that I can go and fight for them, but I can''t have a beer. It''s ridiculous.

Ironically, I didn''t drink until I was 24 anyway.

 

[OUpearlgirl]

I hate that at 18 you are able to do anything that could potentially ruin your life if not thought out properly, but you can''t get a beer.

If we had better public transportation I would say put the drinking age at 16 and the driving age at 18. I know there is no way to do that at this point, but that would be my ideal.

I think wine and beer should be available to 18 year olds but not liquor.

 

[musey]

My personal opinion is that the drinking age should be lower than the driving age. My biggest concern with lowering the drinking age would be that a bunch of new(ish) drivers would also be new drinkers.

So, rather than give them a couple years to get used to the idea of driving before handing them a drink, it might be smarter to give them a couple years to get used to the idea of drinking responsibly before handing them a driver's license. I think if people learned how alcohol effects their functioning before they begin learning to drive, it may help them to better understand why driving under the influence is a bad idea.

That also may mean that teens would be learning to partake in drinking under a stronger watch from their parents (since they wouldn't have the freedom to drive themselves to parties, etc.), which in turn makes it less taboo.

So, whatever the age is when alcohol stops having an effect on cognitive development, that should be the legal drinking age. The driving age should be 1 or more years after that.


IMHO

ETA: I was allowed to drink under parental supervision from about the age of 13. Before that I'd been given sips to "try" it. It held no 'taboo' for me, other than the knowledge that it was illegal for me to do it, but my parents' "okay" was like a free pass to me then (it wasn't like I'd be reported). I never drank outside the house until I was 19 and in college, and even then it was always in a very responsible fashion. I've never gotten in trouble with drinking. (This is true of my two older brothers, as well.)

A bunch of my close friends from high school had parents that never let them 'try' alcohol, and they were expected to wait until they reached the legal age to do so. A large percentage of them snuck around to drink in HS, and became major binge drinkers in college.

So obviously, that colors my opinions on drinking age laws. Not saying it applies universally.

 

[musey]

Date: 8/19/2008 4:27:45 PM
Author: TravelingGal

Date: 8/19/2008 4:24:38 PM
Author: Tacori E-ring

Date: 8/19/2008 4:21:49 PM
Author: somethingshiny
What I wonder about more is why do you have to be 25 to rent a hotel room?? That's really wack!

I think you have to be 25 to rent a car too....

I've never heard about 25 to rent a room. I rented them all the time before I was 25, both for business and pleasure.

The car thing, while inconvenient (and it seriously was when I was in sales when I was 23 and traveling), I can understand.

You don't need to be 25 to get a hotel room. I think you only need a credit card, and I may be wrong about even that (you might only need cash). I booked my first hotel room at 19.

As far as cars, you don't need to be 25 for that, either. The age varies by state, and even by company--25 seems to be most common, but even if their rule IS 25 you can still rent one... you just have to pay a higher fee.

Source: FI and I are both under 25 and have rented/booked both hotel rooms and rental cars lots of times

 

[VegasAngel]

Minimum age requirement for renting a hotel room depends where you are. In Vegas a few hotels the minimum age is 18, majority of them are 21+

 

[musey]

Date: 8/19/2008 5:05:18 PM
Author: VegasAngel
Minimum age requirement for renting a hotel room depends where you are. In Vegas a few hotels the minimum age is 18, majority of them are 21+

But then that''s a company policy, not a law. Same with rental car age.

It''s not as though different liquor stores can set their own age limit as far as who they''ll sell to.

 

[VegasAngel]

Date: 8/19/2008 5:07:43 PM
Author: musey

Date: 8/19/2008 5:05:18 PM
Author: VegasAngel
Minimum age requirement for renting a hotel room depends where you are. In Vegas a few hotels the minimum age is 18, majority of them are 21+

But then that''s a company policy, not a law. Same with rental car age.

It''s not as though different liquor stores can set their own age limit as far as who they''ll sell to.

Who said it was a law?

 

[Kelli]

Yes. I was a very sheltered child, up until the time I moved out of my parents'' house around 21. I was always the goody two shoes who didn''t drink because it was illegal and my parents would not approve. When I finally got my first taste of freedom, I RAN WITH IT! I was twenty one and it was legal, but I didn''t always make responsible decisions. I didn''t do anything too terrible, but it was bad enough that I almost messed things up with my now fiance. He had started drinking at a VERY young age (the result of negligent parents) and he was over it by the time I was actually allowed to. I still enjoy having beers with my friends, or the occasional margarita or martini, but now in a much better way. If it was not such an OFF LIMITS thing, I don''t think I would have gone so overboard. Not that I would blame my parents or anyone else for my decisions, but going from no drinking at all straight to the bar scene was not great for me.

Also, if a person can go to war, risk being captured/tortured/killed why in God''s name are they not allowed into a bar?

 

[SarahLovesJS]

This is a really interesting thread, I guess I am out of touch sometimes with what normal teenagers are like. Every one keeps talking about them partying all of the time and being so immature, but I didn''t drink until I was 21..and I still don''t go out and party. I never did. Now I went to a heavy party school and was surrounded by it at times, but I also know a ton of people who don''t drink regularly. Strange.

 

[musey]

Date: 8/19/2008 5:13:36 PM
Author: VegasAngel

Date: 8/19/2008 5:07:43 PM
Author: musey

Date: 8/19/2008 5:05:18 PM
Author: VegasAngel
Minimum age requirement for renting a hotel room depends where you are. In Vegas a few hotels the minimum age is 18, majority of them are 21+

But then that's a company policy, not a law. Same with rental car age.

It's not as though different liquor stores can set their own age limit as far as who they'll sell to.

Who said it was a law?

No one, but the original comparison was to the legal drinking age. I was just pointing out that car or hotel age limitations are not really the same kind of thing as a drinking age limitation.

 

[VegasAngel]

I dont think it was being compared to drinking age just a general question. Maybe I read wrong.

 

[WishfulThinking]

I don''t particularly care either way. I think it''s a sort of inconsistent law, for the reasons people have mentioned here, and that''s odd. However, I honestly don''t know if it would make a difference in alcohol abuse.

I think the system in many parts of Europe where the drinking age is quite low and people grow up with a bit now and then with dinner and all that is great, but it''s perhaps a different culture all together than the United States. If we adopted that system [which I''m honestly not that opposed to; like I said, I don''t really care either way] I''m not sure it would have the same effects.

I think the driving age is WAY too low, though.



I turn 21 exactly a week from today, but I honestly couldn''t care less about it.

 

[AprilBaby]

If it gets lowered, I hope its at least 19. I have a son who will be HS senior next week and will turn 18 the following week. He would be allowed to drink his way through Sr year. (But he wouldn''t) I also have 25 yr old and 23 yr old who didn''t think it was fun to drink anymore once it was legal.(they sneaked alcohol a few times in college but were not party boys) Under age someone else buys and once its legal YOU have to buy and it costs too much! DH and I dont drink but we never made a big deal of it. They made their own choices and choose in the end not to. In fact 23 yr old is getting married NEXT August and having an alcohol free reception.

 

[Lill_The_Thrill]

I haven't read the whole thread, so I apologize in advance if this has already been said.

The legal age drinking age where I live is 18, BUT, there is one MAJOR liquor chain store that has monopoly on ALL heavy liquor sold in bottles (in the entire country), and you have to be 21 yrs old to be able to buy from them, and they're VERY strict when it comes to showing ID. Heavy liqour is in other words not sold anywhere else but in that store, you can buy beer and lighter alcohol-sodas containing up to 6-7% alcohol in most supermarkets, and for that you don't have to be 21, just 18.
As an 18 yr old, you can also buy drinks at clubs and restaurants. You can drink whatever alcohol you want and how much you want, but you can't actually buy the heavy liquor in bottle.

There has been lots of debates about this, but, overall these reglutations have worked very well. The main reason that they donät want to change the regulations on this is because they don't want teenagers under 18 exposed to alcohol more than they are. If our major liquor store had the regulations on the minimum age of the buyer lowered to 18, the 18 yr olds would buy for their 15-17 yr old friends. So that's why the minimum buying age is 21. 21 year olds can and probably do buy for their younger friends, and that's fine (if they're 18 or older). But those 21 year olds' friends will in most cases be over 18, because not many 21 yr olds hang out with 15-17 yr olds.

 

[somethingshiny]

Date: 8/19/2008 5:46:15 PM
Author: VegasAngel
I dont think it was being compared to drinking age just a general question. Maybe I read wrong.

Yes, my "hotel" question was just a general question. DH and I had to have his parents rent our honeymoon suite when we got married at 19 and 21. I always thought it was really odd that you could get married legally, but you couldn''t have a honeymoon in your own name.


Back to the drinking age, I was allowed to drink in my parents'' home from the time I was 12 or 13. My dad would buy whatever we wanted to try and my mom would make up the fruity cocktails. My mom and I would sit at the picnic table and drink 2 daquiris and I thought it was a great time. I never got into the partying as I got older and that''s why. I knew what drinking was all about, and I didn''t risk getting caught for something I could do in the safety of my home. I had friends who became HUGE drinkers and drove around at 16-17 in order to hide it from their parents.

I''m not saying it''s right or it''s what I''ll do, but I''d rather my child learn his limitations in a safe environment rather than out gallavanting with Shmo and getting into trouble.

As an aside, in TX (when I lived there) my dad could buy me a drink in a bar when I was 14.