Lower US drinking (alcohol) age to 18?

[kallend 1,635]

www.newsday.com/news/printedition/longisland/ny-lidrin195806802aug19,0,4346240.story

Good idea, or not?

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[livendive 8]

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www.newsday.com/news/printedition/longisland/ny-lidrin195806802aug19,0,4346240.story

Good idea, or not?

I say good idea. Get rid of the taboo nature of alcohol and maybe kids will approach it a bit more reasonably.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[billvon 2,406]

When I started college the drinking age was 19 in NY (where I was from) and 20 in Massachusetts (where I went to school.) In Mass, it had gone from 18 to 20 in 1979, and thus the school had gone from almost all students being legal to about half the students being legal. It wasn't a big deal - our dorm continued with its usual happy hours, parties etc. And there were very few problems associated with it. A few people had drinking problems, but they were pretty obvious and someone always made sure they got home OK, they drank some water etc.

In 1984 the drinking age went up to 21 with a grandfather clause. I just made it under the line, and thus became very popular when it came to stocking up for parties. As time went on fewer and fewer students could drink legally.

In 1985 the dean of students decided that if most of the school wasn't legal to drink, she had to do something about it. So she cracked down, sent the campus police to parties, made sure we were checking ID's etc. Some results - people drank heavily before they came to a party in case they couldn't get alcohol there, people tended to hide their drinking and far more fights broke out around the parties.

It got bad enough that she officially made all the dorms dry. That didn't stop anyone, of course, but it got a lot harder to manage. I tended to be one of the people who stayed sober to deal with all the problems, and there were more problems than ever - people puking in the elevators, people getting in fights, people breaking stuff.

One night we figured we'd get around the issue by making a lot of punch and putting gallon plastic bags in the bottom with grain alcohol in it. The punch would be nonalcoholic until the CP's left, then we'd puncture the bags and voila! instant 'real' punch.

Well, they didn't leave until late, and thus when the stuff was finally mixed it was around 100 proof. There were a lot of people who ended up passed out in the lobby, and the mess was pretty impressive the next day.

In Mass, after the drinking age was raised, the number of teenagers who drove after drinking declined - but the number of teenagers who drank a lot (5 or more drinks) and still drove stayed the same. So I didn't see any improvement there.

All in all raising the drinking age didn't do much to control alcohol usage in teens, and in some cases made things worse. From an ethical point of view, there's a good argument to be made that if you are able to sign a piece of paper that allows you to go and die for your country, and vote for the next senator/representative/president, you should be able to have a beer.

[Butters 0]

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Get rid of the taboo nature of alcohol and maybe kids will approach it a bit more reasonably.

Thanks for the laugh but it isn't the taboo, it's the culture.

"That looks dangerous." Leopold Stotch

[Adriandavies 0]

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www.newsday.com/news/printedition/longisland/ny-lidrin195806802aug19,0,4346240.story

Good idea, or not?

I say good idea. Get rid of the taboo nature of alcohol and maybe kids will approach it a bit more reasonably.

Blues,
Dave

You mean like the way some people respect alcohol over here in the UK? I'd keep it at 21 if I were you.

[DARK 0]

drinking age is 18 in ireland were i am from

21 is a bit ridicolous in my opinion iv been an 'adult' for 4 years (im 22 now) and should be allowed do what i want to my own body in that time

also im on the maine new hampshire border at the moment and find the id laws a joke

i actually went into hannafords with my passport and was told 'your lucky you didnt come in two hours ago we didnt know if we could accept a passport as id and had to refuse service to two foreigners' if i was one of those people who got refused i would have gone ballistic

lower the age to 18 educate your kids and train the people who are serving the alcohol and your all set..........its going to take a while though

[VTmotoMike08 0]

Who really wants 18 year olds in bars anyway? I like to avoid thier inmaturity.

Of course, when I was 18 I thought it was pretty unfair that I wasn't allowed into bars too...

[Andrewwhyte 1]

The drinking age here in Alberta is 18. For the most part I see no difference between it and neighbouring British Columbia (19) or Washington (21). The oil boom nature of our economy affects alcoholism, bar violence etc. much more than the presence of 18 yr olds.
On the other hand it is a bit disconcerning when I'm chatting up the cutie at the bar and find out she is still in high school.

[AggieDave 6]

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Who really wants 18 year olds in bars anyway? I like to avoid thier inmaturity.

Of course, when I was 18 I thought it was pretty unfair that I wasn't allowed into bars too...

Any more I find myself either having friends over at my home or going to more expensive bars. Why? Less "kids" typically.

Something to remember when people compare their past experiences in terms of when the legal age was lower. The BAC for most state's legally intoxicated level was 1.0 to 1.15 BAC. This is compared to 0.08 for just about every state (if not every state) now.

The only real noticeable short term change I can see is more alcohol in high schools. Yes I know there is alcohol now, but it is still a little harder to get to those high school parties. As a side note there was a horrific fatality accident in the last month where three high school kids died due to alcohol and driving. Obviously the stricter laws didn't change the outcome in this case.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[billvon 2,406]

>The BAC for most state's legally intoxicated level was 1.0 to 1.15 BAC.

You meant .10, right? I think 1.0 would kill you pretty fast!

[futuredivot 0]

Maybe we should just ban alcohol on a national level. Yeah, that's the ticket-stricter laws makes for easier enforcement

You are only as strong as the prey you devour

[AggieDave 6]

Yes, .10 and .115, thank you for catching my typo!

Although I have "met" some people that have gotten very very close to 1.0 BAC! The conversation was very limited. Actually the conversation didn't happen with them, the conversation was with EMS and the Justice of the Peace that responded for the death notice.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Amazon 7]

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lower the age to 18 educate your kids and train the people who are serving the alcohol and your all set..........its going to take a while though

There is a certain wisdom to that education of children which eludes too many people in this country.

The problem with this country is we were founded by people who were religious extremists. Many of them were kicked out of their European countries for being TOO strict. Because of that we have let a very small and vocal minority control our "morality" ever since. When you make something taboo to a young person.. curiosity wins out every time and you end up with them making STUPID decisions.

PARENTS need to teach their children to be responsible with alcohol. I was a terrible law breaker when my son was growing up. I allowed him to have wine with meals from the time he was about 12. If we were having it with a good dinner then I felt it was only right to share it with him as well. We never had drinking issues with him because he had been raised to be responsible with alcohol.

[Andy_Copland 0]

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i actually went into hannafords with my passport and was told 'your lucky you didnt come in two hours ago we didnt know if we could accept a passport as id and had to refuse service to two foreigners' if i was one of those people who got refused i would have gone ballistic

I didn't go ballistic, but i did get the stupid bitch to get her manageer who gave her an ear bashing about not accepting my passport.

1338

People aint made of nothin' but water and shit.

Until morale improves, the beatings will continue.

[jcd11235 0]

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Who really wants 18

I fixed that for you.

FTR, I think the legal drinking age should be reduced to at least 18.

Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

[AggieDave 6]

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I didn't go ballistic, but i did get the stupid bitch to get her manageer who gave her an ear bashing about not accepting my passport.

It depends on where you are in the US. Many states have laws that state the only acceptable ID for the purchase of alcohol is that state's own issued ID or DL. I'm not saying that bars won't take other IDs, but when they do that they are opening themselves up to civil and criminal action if that person is actually underage.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[VTmotoMike08 0]

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Who really wants 18

I fixed that for you.

FTR, I think the legal drinking age should be reduced to at least 18.

Fair enough. I don't really want old people in my college bars and you don't want me in your bars anyway. So we can have the 21-30 year old bars and the >30 year old bars. More college girls for me that way

[jerryzflies 0]

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I didn't go ballistic, but i did get the stupid bitch to get her manageer who gave her an ear bashing about not accepting my passport.

It depends on where you are in the US. Many states have laws that state the only acceptable ID for the purchase of alcohol is that state's own issued ID or DL. I'm not saying that bars won't take other IDs, but when they do that they are opening themselves up to civil and criminal action if that person is actually underage.

I can't imagine any state with a tourist industry doing that. I wouldn't vacation in a state that wouldn't recognize my Illinois DL if I wanted to buy a beer.

If you can't fix it with a hammer, the problem's electrical.

[beowulf 1]

I was declined at a bar in Illinois for not having an Illinois drivers license. They wouldn't accept my Texas DL. It wouldn't have pissed me off that much if they hadn't asked to see all my cards that have my picture or signature on it and then said that my signatures weren't all written the alike. I would have been happier if they just declined me and not wasted my time with going through my wallet.

[SpeedRacer 1]

raising the legal drinking age to 21 was yet another example of politicians doing SOMETHING so that they can make believe they are useful.

Pass yet another meaningless law, and don't worry about whether it produces good results in the real world.

Speed Racer
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[rehmwa 2]

1 - this has ZERO to do with right or wrong, rights or lack of rights. It only has to do with college administrators not wanting to deal with the issue of illegal underage drinking on their campuses. I'm ok with that motivation - unless they pretend to hide it under some kind of illusion of social something or the other.

2 - Good Idea? Meh - hard to tell much difference - the typical 18 year old and the typical 21 year old are pretty much equal on the whole 'dumbass' scale -and neither knows that until they live another decade or so. The only fallout I see, that I have issue with, is the younger the legal age, the younger the underage person can be that can get someone to buy for them. So if this were to happen, we should DRAMATICALLY increase the penalties for 'buying for minors'.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[peregrinerose 0]

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PARENTS need to teach their children to be responsible with alcohol. I was a terrible law breaker when my son was growing up. I allowed him to have wine with meals from the time he was about 12. If we were having it with a good dinner then I felt it was only right to share it with him as well. We never had drinking issues with him because he had been raised to be responsible with alcohol.

I agree with this completely. I feel there should be a drinking age of some number outside the home, but I also believe that parents should be allowed to introduce alcohol in a reasonable manner in the home. I had my first taste of beer when I was 7 or so, when my dad would let me have a sip of his if we were outside working. He also made wine, so I had my first wine at 9 or 10. A neighbor gave me a bottle of blackberry wine for my very own when I was a teenager, and my parents let me drink it, a bit at a time when they were home.

As a result, alcohol was just another beverage to me, nothing special, nothing to go all nuts about. When I turned 21, I bought some just because I could, but didn't even get a buzz at that time, I had a hard lemonade or something... one drink all night.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[hungarianchick 0]

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PARENTS need to teach their children to be responsible with alcohol. I was a terrible law breaker when my son was growing up. I allowed him to have wine with meals from the time he was about 12. If we were having it with a good dinner then I felt it was only right to share it with him as well. We never had drinking issues with him because he had been raised to be responsible with alcohol.

I agree with this completely. I feel there should be a drinking age of some number outside the home, but I also believe that parents should be allowed to introduce alcohol in a reasonable manner in the home. I had my first taste of beer when I was 7 or so, when my dad would let me have a sip of his if we were outside working. He also made wine, so I had my first wine at 9 or 10. A neighbor gave me a bottle of blackberry wine for my very own when I was a teenager, and my parents let me drink it, a bit at a time when they were home.

As a result, alcohol was just another beverage to me, nothing special, nothing to go all nuts about. When I turned 21, I bought some just because I could, but didn't even get a buzz at that time, I had a hard lemonade or something... one drink all night.

Same here. I was allowed to sip my parents drinks from early on and as a result, I grew up to be a responsible drinker. To me alcohol is really a good glass of wine or a nice cocktail with dinner, not a way to get fucked up on the weekend.
As for lowering the drinking age, I'm all for it. If you are allowed to die for your country at 19, you should be able to have a few beers legally.

"I love cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food."

[kallend 1,635]

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1 - this has ZERO to do with right or wrong, rights or lack of rights. It only has to do with college administrators not wanting to deal with the issue of illegal underage drinking on their campuses. I'm ok with that motivation - unless they pretend to hide it under some kind of illusion of social something or the other.

2 - Good Idea? Meh - hard to tell much difference - the typical 18 year old and the typical 21 year old are pretty much equal on the whole 'dumbass' scale -and neither knows that until they live another decade or so. The only fallout I see, that I have issue with, is the younger the legal age, the younger the underage person can be that can get someone to buy for them. So if this were to happen, we should DRAMATICALLY increase the penalties for 'buying for minors'.

Is the real issue drinking, or drunk driving?

I think our legislators have confused the two.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[akarunway 1]

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>The BAC for most state's legally intoxicated level was 1.0 to 1.15 BAC.

You meant .10, right? I think 1.0 would kill you pretty fast!

It was 18 when I turned 18 and the legal limit in La. was .2. The good ole days. I was grandfathered in when they changed the age too. My friends either hated me or loved me.

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.