Drinking Age from 21 to 18? For or Against?

absolutely down to 18....with concomittant education....that which is forbidden is much desired....short of that, at least decriminalize parents allowing children to imbibe at home as is custom in many countries

The drinking age does NOT need to be lowered, if anything it should be raised to 25! If you have ever been to a bar chock full of 21 yrs old you know why! Stupidity runs rampant when drinking is involved no matter what age, but the older you are the more you can control yourself and think rationally. (there are always exceptions!)

I would probably support lowering the legal drinking age, in graduated steps, over a period of 5 years or so. The extended implementation period would allow for increased education in all sectors - media, public school education, etc. - just as smoking cessation education has become ubiquitous.

We do our culture and our society no favors by prolonging adolescence. It's time to raise expectations.

http://www.amethystinitiative.org/

It would take some time to educate . . . . the evidence I've seen for right now shows it would not be a good idea.

Not sure parents are on board with taking the time to do this at this juncture . . . maybe when the "millennium" age group starts to have kids.


steph

My stance is not for or against a specific age, but rather for equal rights at a certain age.

You shouldn't be denied the ability to make a decision to drink alcohol while you are allowed to make the decision to join the military, take out loans in your own name, and vote.

It should be 18 across the board or it should be 21 (or any other age) across the board. Period.

I will note that personally I believe the longer and higher out of reach you keep something like alcohol the more it is likely to be abused as a sacred object or a taboo.

You don't see binge drinking anywhere near as frequent (if at all) in European countries where alcohol isn't held anywhere near as holy as it's rite of passage status here in the US, but that's an argument for the sociologists. I prefer the legal equity argument, myself.

I agree with hypocaffeinemia. I think we need to set a consistent standard to define legal adulthood and then stick with it. If a person is old enough to be DRAFTED into military service, vote, make all legal decisions for himself/herself, etc. then that same person should be allowed to make the decision about alcohol.

Yes, people will make stupid choices -- but many older people make stupid choices, too.

If more education, better checking of ID's, etc. is needed -- then so be it.

I also agree that the more something is "forbidden until adulthood," the more intrigued teenagers will be by it.

I would agree with this is it was that was all there was to it. Teenagers are not responsible enough (as well as many adults) to have a complete understanding of the consequences following getting into a car after being loaded. When they get into the car they put my life and everyone else up for grabs...I say up the drinking age !!!!

This is how myself and a number of classmates felt. We were old enough to drive, vote, own firearms, and smoke, but we couldn't drink. Hell, now we're even registered nurse's and can pass narcotics, along with other highly addictive drugs, but we can't buy alcohol. To me, this just seems like a very weird standard. If the U.S. is going to have all the other "rites of passage" (ie voting, legal adulthood, etc) at 18, why do America's youth have to wait to drink? I know some will get drunk and make mistakes if the age was lowered, but people will do that regardless of their age if they are irresponsible.

I feel that if at 18 we can vote, serve jury duty, drive, and serve the military either by choice or draft, then we should be able to drink at that age. My mom remembers a time when she was in high school and the drinking age was 18. The fact is no matter how old someone is they will make stupid decisions 18,21, or 50.

Hell at 18 I could sell you alcohol but I couldn't drink it? Makes total sense right?

I live in the Detroit area and would go to Windsor when I was 19-21 on weekends with friends. We were responsible and had a designated driver. Canada's drinking age is 19. Not all young kids make stupid decisions as well as not all adults make intelligent decisions.