Drinking Age

[Julianne]

Interesting debate.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26271328

Personally, I believe at age 18 adults should be afforded all the same rights/responsibilities as is currently held at the age of 21.

In the 25+ years since raising the drinking age there has not been a significantly lower incidence of teen deaths due to drinking/driving which was one of the primary arguments that supported the age restrictions over two decades ago.  According the article referenced...it has made the problem worse.

I dunno....I guess I've always felt that at 18 and all that it entails...serving your country....go to real jail....vote....yeah you can have a beer.

[Kiss-me-Kate]

I can see your point Juliane.

Personally, I was mature enough at that age to drink.  But, I was also a terrified new bride/parent of a sweet baby boy by that age too.
Now that sweet baby boy is going to be 18 next month.  (How the heck did that happen?)

He is in no way ready to drink a beer, or even vote/serve his country for that matter.  Perhaps that is my fault?  Perhaps he is just immature.  Who's to say.

[theChuck]

it definitely should be down to 18. if you can serve in the army, you should be able to drink. period, done.

[Arsinoe Selene]

I can see both sides of this issue. My friend (who has been to Germany/Europe, where she was old enough to drink, and has) reasons that if it was lowered, then there would be less pressure to drink because it is "cool" and forbidden. Plus the whole "old enough to die for your country, but not old enough to drink." I don't get that.

But I also know that there are a lot of people my age, give or take a year or two, that are soooo not ready, but do anyway, and the drinking age doesn't stop them. Just because it's cool, yo.

I think I am mature enough to drink, at 19. Of course, my dad is a retired cop and my mom is a nurse in labor and delivery (I don't get away with anything. ["Don't feel good? Take some Advil, you're going to school."]). My friend is also mature enough to drink. Our thing is, though, it has to taste good. We aren't into drinking to get drunk. We are more of a have something tasty to drink, oh, it has alcohol? Okay, that's fine.

[Anna Iram]

"There isn't that much difference in maturity between 21 and 18," she said. "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."


With that logic, shifting the age to 18 means your "freak out" drinking age would coincide with your first year as a driver. Not wild about that idea. Yes the fact is I drank before I was of age and did some crazy stuff behind the wheel of a car while I was 17 and just testing my freedom. The legal age at the time was 18. It was changed shortly after that to 21. I think teens are going to test their boundaries no matter what the legal age or how readily liquor is available.

Perhaps a wine and beer legal drinking age at 18 and then harder liquor at 21 might work.

[Lord Figaro]

I solidly believe if you can bleed and die for your country, then the least the country can do is let you have a beer for god sake.  I always thought it was stupid. It changed right when I was that age. One day I was able to drink a beer on base. Next day, nope. Gee thanks for letting me serve, but not old enough to be served.

[KeeperoftheBar]

I think they are going about this all wrong...Instead of lowering the drinking age, raise the adult age back to 21.  No voting, no marriage, no legal contracts, nothing.  The only exception I would make is for active duty military.  They would be deemed to be 21 or older regardless of their actual age.
Okay youngsters, let the stones fly.

[Lady Nicolette]

Personally, I'm with those on lowering the drinking age, or just getting rid of it (ala Europe).  I ascribe to the forbidden fruit theory with it and most people have experimented previous to legal age anyway.  More importantly, I think that people should have to pass an exam for a license to reproduce, rather than worry about the age they imbibe in alcohol.

[Demetrius]

Kids should be able to drink- but they have to clean their room. 

[tigerlilly]

Old enough to serve your country, but not old enough to have a beer...

How about making the drinking age 18 only with an active duty military ID, and all others have to wait until 21?

Being underage didn't really make it much more difficult to get alcohol, but the "forbidden
fruit" aspect certainly did make it more fun.

[PurpleDragon]

~blinks~ WHAT?? Lower the drinking age?  What the hell for?  Why should we give these lazy kids yet another excuse to NOT get off their butts and get a job.  "I was too hungover. I couldn't go to the interview because I was drunk."  Yeah, that's brilliant.  While we're at it let's make it legal for you got get a driver's license at 14, or drop the age of consent down to 11.  ((Do you see the "slippery slope" that you start out on by this one change?))

Seriously.  Most military installations will allow the enlisted men to drink BEER ONLY at the NCO club even if they are not 21.  They cannot however leave base to drink, unless they are in a foreign country.  At least that's how it was when I was on active duty in the days of Bush 41.  Now, I agree that an active duty military person should be allowed to drink since they were responsible enough to voluntarily enlist in the military, and are serving their country.  However, that could lead to a multitude of degenerates enlisting in the military just so they can drink. (Won't they be surprised when they actually have to wait until they are out of Basic Training, and AIT before they'll be allowed off base to drink. LOL). 

[Cyron]

i like tigerlilly's idea.  mainly because when i was 19 i was stationed overseas for 1 year on a island that was only a miilitary base, drinking age of 18. got back to the usa when i was 20 1/2 and for the past year i had been going to bars (8 bars on this base of 1300 people) and the little store buying and drinking alcohol, completely forgot that I was not allowed to and got in a bunch of trouble when i tried to buy some at the store. 

as for the forbidden fruit idea.. ya most the people i knew in highschool basically only went out of there way to get it because it was not something there were supposed to have so it was super cool to have it.

lol purpledragon, but that same reson of being drunk and not goign to job interviews or there job still goes on with people i know in there mid to late 20's.. but as for the drivers licence at age 14.. i had a farmers drivers license at 14, never hurt no one.

[brier patch charlie]

Well, first off the military has changed the drinking age on post, and they go by the state law. If the state says 21, it's 21 on post.  And the Air Force will and dose prosacute it's airman for this minnor infraction, the Army likes to hand out Article 15's for it when it becomes some sort of problem at company level.
As for me I feel drinking age should be 18, but I was brought up in a home were if you want a drink, there it is. So drinking to me was never a big thing like it was to most kid's. Hell at 16 I had 5 cases of beer stacked up in my closet. My dad and I made our own beer and wine and I got a cut of it. It all starts in the home if you teach your child that it's a forbidden fruit, that they can not have they will want it more and will go out of their way to get it. If it's there and available and they know they can have it at any time, it's no big thing and means nothing to them.  This also one of the reasons why we have a large drug and alcohol problem in this country.  But this is 2 cents worth.

[Noble Dreg]

Maybe an unpopular idea but I would like to see the age RAISED for all the 'adult' behaviors.  I cringe when I think of a sixteen year old driver.  I damn near die inside when I see an 18 year old lose his life in a foriegn war.  I say 21 to drink, join the military, maybe even vote.

A somewhat simplistic view but I have always strongly believed no matter what the age, if you're in uniform you deserve a drink!  Height of absurdity to deny a soldier the right to drink (this includes while stationed in certain areas of the world).

[eloquentXI]

Changing everything else up to 21 is something to consider. I've never thought of that...

as an 18 year old, I just know that if the age is raised or lowered, kids my age are still going to drink. It's something, unfortunately, that so many people find exhiliarating, I guess? I don't know, I don't drink so I can't really place my opinion on it.

But, as the little sister of an soldier, he should be able to have a beer without consequences if he wants one.