Should the legal drinking age in America be 18?

[Aschenkatza]

Plus, I don't believe we always had the drinking age... and we got along fine back then didn't we? =P

Actually, that's the issue: was there a drop in the accident rate among 18-21 year olds due to raising the public consumption and purchase age, was there any other way to achieve that drop, and does that drop justify the raising of the age?

I was actually talking about in the days of cowboys and such... >.>

--sorry if this is a double post =P

In the days of cowboys, we had horses, not cars--rarely did you hear about a drunken cowboy plowing into a stagecoach and killing everyone involved ;-D

EXACTLY! Bring back the horses and abolish that damn drinking law, YEEHAW!!

 

[Jimmyjames]

I live in a college neighborhood. If keeping the legal age at 21 means just five of those idiots aren't drinking, I'll say it's just fine the way it is.

There is no fun like the fun I have listening to the drunk morons "woooo"ing at 3am.

 

[Optimystic]

I'm only talking about traffic deaths, not the risks of substance abuse. I personally think funnels are awesome. The original question was about the U.S. drinking age, however, and that law is mostly about traffic accidents:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/18.102850.1595328

It's not very feasible to look at these issues in a vacuum: the unintended consequences of having such a high drinking age (relative to other countries) must be considered in any debate on its merit.

My solution: Raise the driving age. Cuts down on a lot of asshattery.

 

[MetalHerc]

Well here in BC the drinking age is 19. From 15-18 I would drink myself sick nearly every weekend. Turned 19, went to the bars a couple times and now I have a couple drinks here and there. Haven't puked, blacked out or anything since.

A higher drinking age does nothing. A kid can get booze fine. When I was 15 I could get it fine, I'm sure if I was 20 and couldn't go to a liquor store I could get it easily enough as well.

 

[Korolev]

Eh, why not - it's the legal drinking age here in Australia. Actually, as long as you've got a parental OK, you can drink at home when you're 16.

But yes, we have legal drinking at 18 over here, and society hasn't collapsed. Well, at least, our levels of drunkeness and violence are no greater than in the US.

Personally I don't drink (teetotaller, I am), but I'm happy for others to. Hell, most teenagers drink when they're 16-17 anyway.

 

[Jast]

Keep it 21. You'ld still be in high school when you turn 18 and I find high schoolers quite irresponsible.

 

[Optimystic]

Keep it 21. You'ld still be in high school when you turn 18 and I find high schoolers quite irresponsible.

Because college kids are so much more mature amirite?

Hell no. 21 is fine but I personally would raise it to 25. Same as legal driving age should be 21. Fucking kids can't be trusted with anything these days.

The drinking age isn't going to change their behavior. Keeping it high - or worse, setting it even higher - just gets them into the habit of breaking the law to get what they want.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

Raise the driving age, keep the drinking age where it is. People who really want booze are gonna get it regardless of the law, so the best we can do is let them know there are legal consequences for acting like a moron. Wanna get drunk? Fine, but if you hit somebody with your car, you're going away for a while. Stupidity can't be condoned. Unless somebody held you down and forced the beer down your throat, only YOU are responsible for when, where and how much you drink.

I like the age limit where it is. People under the age of 21 act stupid enough now-they don't need any beer helping them.

And I realize maturity and age often aren't connected at all, but it's not like the guy at the counter of a Quick-O Mart can tell how "mature" you are by looking. A blanket age limit is needed, so that nobody can claim unfair treatment. And since, as a general rule, people older than 21 are more mature than people younger than 21, it seems like a fair law to me.

 

[Jamanticus]

I'm not actually against substance abuse.

Come again? You're talking about substance abuse, as in, drinking tons of alcohol and beating up your family. Getting insanely hopped up on a drug like morphine and dying of overdose....Developing such an extreme physical dependancy methamphetamine that you're guaranteed to die if you don't your fix.

Extreme examples, but those are what abuse is. By definition, substance abuse is a highly destructive activity. I hope that you are referring to substance use and not abuse, for the sake of my peace of mind.

 

[Echo3Delta]

I used to agree wholeheartedly with the argument: Old enough to get drafted, fight, bleed, and die for your country? Old enough to have a beer. Being in the military myself, this struck a chord with me. However, I had an epiphany.

I'm now 22, and I've realized that lowering the drinking age to 18 would leave no good reason for certain bars and clubs to be 21-and-over. Fuck. That. I have no desire to let teenagers into adult establishments and ruin the atmosphere. End of discussion.

 

[PoToGo]

Does there really need to be an age? We need to give individual tests to people to find out if they're going to be that obnoxious naked guy who peed in the corner. If yes, I suggest shock therapy and have them return next year. Not that people ever change.

 

[Yokomitsu]

It is that in my country at the moment and there are no problems with it, well of course theres the odd problem but hey america is doing nothing more then denying americans for that little bit longer to get "silly" on the weekends

 

[Jamanticus]

Come again?

I just did.

Oh what a frightfully witty post, old chap! Why, you rival even George Bernard Shaw in your tremendous way of putting things.

(the above was a sarcastic, even sardonic comment)

I want to know what you mean when you say you aren't against substance abuse. Do you mean that, or did you use the wrong words? If you did mean that, why are you for substance abuse? Notice, I am saying abuse and not use. They are two wholly different terms in that one is inherently destructive and one is perhaps not.

 

[MoganFreeman]

Well, Short term it is a HORRIBLE idea.

But long term, I think it would help things.

 

[DalekJaas]

18 in Australia cause we rule. Beer makes you fat, Americans are already fat, therefore they can wait for beer.

 

[Frybird]

My bias is that people drink illegally because they aren't allowed. People want what they can't have. If we got rid of the law[or lowered it], no one would care to drink because it's no longer a rebellious thing.

As many have said and many will say, "Why can I choose to die for my country, yet not be allowed to drink?"

I agree with this. The legal drinking age in Germany is 16, and you don't hear about any problems coming out of it.

Mass transit in Germany is much, much better than it is in America. That's why you don't hear of as many problems: the drinking age was raised because of the number of traffic accidents related to alcohol and young drivers, and Americans live in much less dense settlement patterns than the people of Germany.

Um...there are problems with youth drinking in Germany. A big one. Trust me on this.