Should the legal drinking age in America be 18?

[kawligia]

The main reason adolescents and young adults act so immaturely is because they are constantly being treated like children.

Back in the old days, the young were still rash, but they were more responsible and worldly because they were seen as full adults. The age where you went from child to adult was between 7 and 12.

 

[Velocirapture07]

The drinking age in the U.S. is stupid and should definitely be changed.

 

[Gimelbub]

I think so. At 18 you can vote, buy porn, serve in the military, and smoke, but nope, you can't have that beer.

EDIT: Beaten.

 

[The Infamous Scamola]

What america should do is: either lower the drinking age to 18 or raise the age in which you can get into the military to 21, cos being old enough to kill someone and still be to young for you to drink a beer is just stupid.

 

[ace_of_something]

I thought of another thing, since its so easy for you all to get guns and such, would you really want even more hot headed gun weilding people out and about, 21 year olds seem to be more responsible than 18 year olds, and mixing guns in the equation just make it sound like Death is waiting...

Wow, stereotype much? I doubt you know much about foreign gun control laws. Just because it's easier than it is for you doesn't mean it's EASY.

Americans have a problem with moderation it?s worst in the youngest of us. 21 is fine. Though it?s state not national law.

For example; in this state if you are 14 or older you can legally drink alcohol as long as you are in your parents home or on their property when they are present. Also there is no age limit for drinking alcohol when it is in a religious cerimony and is under I think... 4 fluid oz?

 

[Lullabye]

Hah, america, this is one thing canada has over you!
21-america
18-canada

 

[Splyth]

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?"

yup the whole reverse psychology thing. I tell you you can't have it. and so you want it

 

[lazy_bum]

I have never understood why the U.S. has such a high drinking age, sitting over here in the U.K. where you turn 18 and everything becomes legal at last.

 

[TwistedEllipses]

I don't see why not, it's 18 here in the UK...

 

[Kajt]

No, the legal drinking age should be 118.

 

[Baby Tea]

The legal age is 18 here, but there have been strict penalties on selling to minors, so it's pretty much impossible to get a drink anywhere without id until you're about 30 or have a really good beard.

Does that mean you're fine?
OOOOOOH! I'm so sorry Gtea! It was just a friendly ribbing! You know I don't mean it! Please don't hit me anymore!

On topic: I fail to see the fascination with drinking. It's so darn unappealing.
It sucks your money, it limits awareness, and it just over-all seems pointless.

I'm not totally against drinking, but getting drunk is about as appealing to me as slamming my hand in a door.

 

[CapnGod]

The problem is that changing the drinking age doesn't change the culture. The culture means just as much as the law. We've still got this slightly puritanical attitude toward it, giving it the allure of the dangerous.

When I was in Germany many years ago as a teenager, our counterparts weren't ridiculous about alcohol the way a lot of us were. The difference is that alcohol is just a standard part of the culture from a very young age. It's not a big deal.

In America, it's "drugs and alcohol" in the same sentence, and we're warned of the dangers thereof. But, alcohol is legal for adults, so teenagers get their hands on it and go wild. It's taboo. It's edgy. It's cool.

Shift the paradigm to a setup wherein alcohol is just another drink of choice that has some consequences, and not this evil menace, and some of the rebelliousness is removed. It's just another thing. It's not taboo.

I'd support lowering the drinking age to fifteen or sixteen in bars and much younger at home with the family, actually, but it would have to be in conjunction with a raising of the driving age to 18. That way, you know your limits and you're used to drinking.

However, I don't think any of this will ever come to fruition, because I have serious doubts about our population's ability to de-elevate alcohol from this pedestal we've currently got it on.

 

[Kirosilence]

An old thought that was passed to my by my grandfather a long time ago.

"If you are old enough to go and die for your country, you are old enough to buy a beer."

I've heard that one. I have to wonder if getting all your early-college drinking done legally rather than illegally would mean getting it out of your system sooner.

Honestly, thanks to a laid back family life, I had been drinking since I was 15, but I had done it in a safer environment. Not a club or a bar where I could do something stupid. This wound up leading to be being done the "Drink until I puke neon colours" part of my life by the time I hit the grand old golden age of 18 and became legal in Canada. I was a lot more knowledgeable about my limits, what I could and could not drink and such.

Maybe walking into a bar should remain at 21 in the states, but you should be able to legally buy alcohol for personal use at home or some such at 18. It would allow people to "Test the waters" and not go berserk the moment they become legal, get tanked, punch someone at the bar and wind up in the hospital.

 

[Galletea]

The legal age is 18 here, but there have been strict penalties on selling to minors, so it's pretty much impossible to get a drink anywhere without id until you're about 30 or have a really good beard.

Does that mean you're fine?
OOOOOOH! I'm so sorry Gtea! It was just a friendly ribbing! You know I don't mean it! Please don't hit me anymore!

On topic: I fail to see the fascination with drinking. It's so darn unappealing.
It sucks your money, it limits awareness, and it just over-all seems pointless.

I'm not totally against drinking, but getting drunk is about as appealing to me as slamming my hand in a door.

[small] hmm ok...if you've learned your lesson...Don't do it again.[/small]

I see what you mean about drinking though, there does seem to be a big obsession over it. I like to drink on occasion but that's mostly because I like the taste of what I drink. Reducing the actual age limit will mean younger and younger people start drinking, and I'm not sure that's a good thing at all.

 

[JMeganSnow]

Assuming there ought to be a legal drinking age AT ALL--and that it makes any difference whatsoever about actually preventing people from having access to alcohol--and based on my personal experience, I think the legal drinking age in the U.S. ought to be 75. I also think people should be prohibited from having children until they pass a written exam.

 

[radioedit420]

I think me being an enlisted member of the US Army (300th Chemical Unit, 4th PLT, 2nd SQD, Pennsylvania), I'm only 18 but am eligible for deployment in a war zone.
I think its messed up that I'm old enough to Kill and be killed for my country, but I cant have a beer.
I agree though most 18 yr olds already drink and most are irresponsible twats.
Whats really messed up is how bad we prosecute marijuana. But alcohol is legal.

In my friends and my experience date rape happens when everyones drunk.
A huge fight breaks out at a party, I'd bet that they are drunk.

Im not saying pot isn't bad but IMHO its not as bad as alcohol.
Everything in moderation. Sorry for the off topicness.

 

[Sronpop]

Personnally I have been drinking since the age of 14, I am 19 now but i have never had a problem getting drinking one or two occasions maybe but thats it. Now in saying that I do live in Ireland, I don't think I need to tell you any more about that. But I do think that it should be lower in America, when you start drinking should be decided on by the individual, like having sex, the law maybe 18 or something for rape reasons and what have you, but it still happens and its going to continue to happen, its all on how you feel, there are people i know who are 15 who are way more responsible than me, and if they feel like they should be able ot have a beer than let them, its all part of growing up, but the law should be 18.

I have a friend who wants to travel to vegas for his 21st birthday, now if I go with him I wont be able to drink because he is older than me, I dont find that fair especially when I am a responsible drinker who is aloud to drink in his home country(different laws for foreigners?), granted given given my history it won't be a problem, an Irishman can talk himself out of any situation, but I still find it unfair.

 

[Cliff_m85]

How many people have gotten booze before they were 21? *raises hand*

How many people think that the law encourages binge drinking? *raises hand*

How many people think that the law is actually working? *silence*

 

[SmilingKitsune]

I don't think it really makes that much of a diference, in Ireland the legal age is 18, yet many people start drinking well before that, I don't drink myself (I don't think I would taste very good hoho) and I don't like the effect alcohol has on many people, but just setting the lagal age higher doesn't solve the problem.

 

[axelmaxima]

no, we don't need anymore drunks behind the wheel!