One question from the debate last night was about the drinking age. 18 or 21?

Question

For me, it seems only logical that if you can ask a young man or woman to go and fight and risk their lives for the country, they should be able to enjoy a beverage at home with their friends and family.

However lowering the drinking age can only do more harm than good.

Many countries have no legal age for drinking but they don't have some of the issues we have. Maybe it's because there is a difference between cultures and societies.

What do you think?

Answer 1

It has to do with maturity. The body, and specifically the brain, continues to develop past your teen years. Alcohol has a much greater effect on a brain that is still developing.

Considering the first thing to become impaired is your judgement, this also accounts for the increased possibility of a younger drinker to make a poor decision.

Personally, I have no problem with teens drinking in private. I do, however, have a problem sharing my streets with them.

Answer 2

The government knows that you can influence the masses but not control them. Drinking ages and speed limits are example of this.

If the legal drinking age is 21, then many people think that 18yr olds should be able to drink...but not 16 yr olds.

If the drinking age is reduced to 18, then many people will think that it's ok to drink at 16 yrs old.

Therefore, a 21 yr age limit greatly reduces drinking in children while an 18 yr age is less effective. If you reduce the limit to 18yrs, more 16 yr olds will drink.

Just like people who think that 10 mph over the speed limit is ok...the government leaves the speed limit below an acceptable level but enforces roughtly 10 mph above the speed limit. So effectively, a 55 mph highway reduces the number of cars going 75mph. If the speed limit is raised to 65mph, people will continue to speed and go 75 mph.

Bottom line...when a large percentage of the population doesn't follow the law, it is more realistic for the government to set somewhat strict laws with lax enforcement than it is to have fair laws and strict enforcement.

On the other hand, the minimum age for the military is easily and strictly enforced.

Answer 3

I agree, that when you are allowed to get killed for your country and to vote then you are adult enough to drink. Otherwise you have a double standard. I don't know how it is with so many other countries but there are some in Europe where the drinking age is 16 but you can't get your driver's license until you are older. Which to me makes sense, because no 16 year old has the chance to drive home drunk.
Also, in these countries they have a serious driver's education which consists of theory and practice with many hours of book learning and driving, not like here where after driving a couple of blocks with a licensed driver you can go and get your license. So when these people sit down for their first drive alone, they know what they are doing.
And.....until recently at least: when people in Europe get a DUI, there is no stigma attached to it like here. There they don't have to be ashamed to tell their family and friends. And shame and public apology don't save lives, they just make people think, "crap that I have gotten caught, need to be more careful the next time and take another route".
And as long as people don't understand that drinking and driving kills I don't care if the drinking age is at 30.

Answer 4

Most countries in Europe have no drinking age per se, but do regulate how late someone underage can remain unaccompanied by a parent in a place that primarily dispenses alcohol. On the other hand, the age at which one can begin driving lessons is 18.

Compare that most of the US where you can drive solo at 16, but not drink until 21.

It's simply not surprising that the US has more problems with underage DUI than Europe, since people in the US have five years driving before being able to drive to a bar, rather than eighteen years to know how alcohol affects them before they even get behind a wheel for the first time.

Personally, I'd say do away with age limitations on alcohol and make it the parents' responsibility.

Answer 5

The problem is that while some 18 year olds are responsible, others are not. The majority of the youth using the Military service as an excuse to be able to drink, are those that will never go into the service.

Answer 6

If a person is old enough to risk their life for their country, as well as vote, the same person should be able to enjoy an alcoholic beverage. As far as maturity goes, I've seen plenty of immature,slobbering drunks who are way older than 21.

Answer 7

I think that we need to treat children as children and adults as adults. The age at which one can vote, drink, buy a hand gun, join the military (without parental permission), get married, smoke cigarettes or be charged an adult price at the movie box office should all be the same. I don't think it should be 18 though, that's too young. Many 18 year olds are still in high school and have yet to experience the world, Generally their political views are biased toward that of their parents and they have little desire to actually research candidates positions. Drinking at 18 is generally done at "Parties" where no one is responsible enough to take everyone's keys because its just too cool to get buzzed. A lot of teenagers have little control over their emotions and would be quick to escalate something simple and meaningless into a shooting incident ... I think 20 would be a good age to drink legally and be considered an adult for all the other issues.

Answer 8

I think its blatantly unfair that I, and my generation, was allowed to drink alcohol at 18, whereas now, an 18-20 year old is deemed "underage." Plus, there are some studies which show that increasing the drinking age made the problem it was supposed to fix worse, and not better.

Answer 9

How 'bout maybe when you turn 18 AND are in the service with a valid Military ID, you can legally drink. It would be an absolute disaster to give EVERY scmuck who turns 18 a beer. The key words on this are " IF you are old enough to die for your country..... " This statement only includes service men and women.

Answer 10

18 or 21? No. 15. That way kids start drinking while they're subject to parental supervision, and they learn to do it safely and intelligently. That's what they do in most of Europe and it works fine.