drinking age should be 18

[Livewire]

I honestly think that would cause more 'illegal' drinking. People need to drive as a way of life. Yes, you don't NEED to drink, but with no opinion there, it is like the government are treating us like kids.

Why not just increase the severity of the punishment for drink driving? Much like breaching copyright, an unlimited fine and maximum of 10 years in jail. However, the prisions are already at capacity.

I like the idea of harsher punishment as a deterrent against drunk driving, but like you said, there isn't any room in the US prison system. Then you get into a hairy situation where certain criminals are more valued (in the sense they belong in prison) and some criminals even get released early because of that.

I think regardless of the rules people will continue to drink illegally anyways. Always have.

 

[Eon-Rider]

It is 18. Come to Australia.

 

[Richard Lynch]

First of all, alcohol is very harmful to the body and is famous for causing harm to innocents due to abuse, as well as the drinkers themselves. This drug is not to be taken lightly. This is not <insert less harmful drug here>. This is alcohol. Alcohol hurts and ruins countless lives every year.

Quite frankly, in a perfect world this drug would be very illegal, and we should be striving to get the closest to this that our human imperfections will allow within reason.

Maturity; drinking poison for the lulz. True-fact, if your liver wasn't there to filter 90+% of the alcohol you drink, you'd probably die from your average drink.

You make alcohol sound like a Devil Drink. I think it's a person's right to be able to drink, even if their liver becomes so dead, shriveled and black that when you put your ear to it you can hear it say, "Whatchyou talkin' 'bout, Willis?"

What we need are stricter laws against the societal consumption, not personal consumption. Limit bars, limit people's action as it affects other's. I believe our rights should be limitless, and it's only when relating to another person that they should be regulated and monitored. You know?

 

[MushroomZOMBIE]

Anyone who supports the idea that the drinking age should be lowered is already brainwashed by how "good" alcohol is.
Have fun with losing your brain cells and being a tool of society!

 

[Livewire]

Anyone who supports the idea that the drinking age should be lowered is already brainwashed by how "good" alcohol is.
Have fun with losing your brain cells and being a tool of society!

I support the idea of lowering the drinking age, and no, Alcohol isn't good. Neither is smoking, just as bad, yet it's legal at 18. Hmmm.

 

[luf100]

In Canada the legal drinking age is 19, and actually in a few provinces it is 18. I'm fine with it, at 18 you're considered a legal adult, so I suppose you should be able to choose whether or not to drink.

I don't drink and don't really have any urge to at all, so it doesn't really effect me much.

 

[Yuoaman]

Anyone who supports the idea that the drinking age should be lowered is already brainwashed by how "good" alcohol is.
Have fun with losing your brain cells and being a tool of society!

So you know everyone who has voiced their support for lowering the drinking age personally? Holy ****ing ****! That's fantastic! Especially since you were somehow able to brainwash me into loving a substance I've never imbibed. Just marvelous.

And by tool of society you mean... what exactly? Someone who improves society by working on it like a hammer or screwdriver? What a find gentleman you really are.

 

[Dawn]

You make alcohol sound like a Devil Drink. I think it's a person's right to be able to drink, even if their liver becomes so dead, shriveled and black that when you put your ear to it you can hear it say, "Whatchyou talkin' 'bout, Willis?"

What we need are stricter laws against the societal consumption, not personal consumption. Limit bars, limit people's action as it affects other's. I believe our rights should be limitless, and it's only when relating to another person that they should be regulated and monitored. You know?

Well... It's sort of the most problematic drink in the world. Mainly because people have difficulty being responsible and it's tolerated too much. As it stands, people are murdered and harassed by people who have been drinking inappropriately on a pretty consistent and wide-spread scale. Whether it be drunk driving, or some unlucky soul at the bar, alcohol is causing plenty of harm and I'm only trying to stress how unacceptable the current view of alcohol is.

I mean, I look at some of the arguments for lowering the age and they look like they were practically stolen from a marijuana debate, when in reality the two debates are incredibly different and the argument doesn't actually apply.

I mean quite frankly, if we can't get the problem under control the world would probably be a better place without this particular drink. It just causes that much problems as it stands right now.

I support the idea of lowering the drinking age, and no, Alcohol isn't good. Neither is smoking, just as bad, yet it's legal at 18. Hmmm.

The only answer to this is to raise the smoking age to 21. I'm sorry but this point is weak.

 

[Livewire]

Well... It's sort of the most problematic drink in the world. Mainly because people have difficulty being responsible and it's tolerated too much. As it stands, people are murdered and harassed by people who have been drinking inappropriately on a pretty consistent and wide-spread scale. Whether it be drunk driving, or some unlucky soul at the bar, alcohol is causing plenty of harm and I'm only trying to stress how unacceptable the current view of alcohol is.

I mean, I look at some of the arguments for lowering the age and they look like they were practically stolen from a marijuana debate, when in reality the two debates are incredibly different and the argument doesn't actually apply.

I mean quite frankly, if we can't get the problem under control the world would probably be a better place without this particular drink. It just causes that much problems as it stands right now.



The only answer to this is to raise the smoking age to 21. I'm sorry but this point is weak.

How is that weak? It demonstrated the double-standard when it comes to illicit/harmful substances. I can waltz into my pharmacy too and buy substances hundreds of times more deadly to my body than alcohol.

What difference does the age make? You can just as easily die from a drunk driving accident at 21 as you could at 18. You can just as easily OD at 21 too, age doesnt really matter. Bottom line, you'd still be dead.

The Government can't (and won't) raise the smoking age to 21. Too much lost tax revenue.

 

[Nathalie]

If you're legally considered an adult at 18, you should be able to do everything a person of, say, 40, could do. Like Live_Wire466 said, you can just as easily just as easily die from a drunk driving accident at 21 as you could at 18. Those 3 years aren't going to make you that much more mature.

 

[Pokestick good times.]

In Sweden, up here, the drinking age is 18, though you gotta be 21 to buy the strong stuff.

Though personally I think it should be greater, I mean the body can't handle alcohol properly until it's fully developed, and that's when you're around the age of twenty-five.
I honestly don't care if you want to be able to drink even if you're thirteen, alcohol still ****s up your bodies.

 

[Sert908]

No it shouldn't, the amount of drunk drivers are bad enough already, imagine if you let 3 more years of teenagers drink and drive.

 

[bna_li]

I think there is an incredible amount of bias in this thread.

Also, I noticed you never replied to my post, Yellow =/

 

[Purple_Haze]

How about just get rid of the age limit on alcohol consumption. At the age of 18 you are a legal adult and old enough to be drafted into wars and potentially die for the country you should be old enough to make your own decisions and take responsibility for your choices. Prior to the age of 18 it should be at the parents discretion. Say a parent allows thier 16 year old son to have a glass of wine with dinner. Who are you to say otherwise?

pkm trainer yellow in principle the debate are the same should the federal government be able to regulate what you decide to put into your body? Its know surprise that their is some overlap in the arguments against it. your body, your life, your decision.

 

[Richard Lynch]

Well... It's sort of the most problematic drink in the world. Mainly because people have difficulty being responsible and it's tolerated too much. As it stands, people are murdered and harassed by people who have been drinking inappropriately on a pretty consistent and wide-spread scale. Whether it be drunk driving, or some unlucky soul at the bar, alcohol is causing plenty of harm and I'm only trying to stress how unacceptable the current view of alcohol is.

I mean, I look at some of the arguments for lowering the age and they look like they were practically stolen from a marijuana debate, when in reality the two debates are incredibly different and the argument doesn't actually apply.

I mean quite frankly, if we can't get the problem under control the world would probably be a better place without this particular drink. It just causes that much problems as it stands right now.

I won't deny bad things have happened when people get drunk, but bad things also happen when people are sober. The exact same bad things. Which leads me to believe that alcohol may not be the primary blame. You see a hate crime every week in the news or paper, and maybe sometimes they're drunk, but sometimes they're not. I think what we need to work on is the cause of the "bad stuff" - the Human Condition.

Personally, I've seen a lot more funny and talkative (and a few depressed) drunks than I have violent and hateful drunks. But maybe that's because I live in the suburbs.

Plus, don't forget how much crap went down when alcohol was made illegal, during the Prohibition times. A lotta people got killed then.

And you're right when you say the alcohol vs. reefer debate is incomparable. The fact of the matter is that reefer is the most benign drug out there. But that's a whole different debate. ;)

 

[mr. pineapple]

Drinking at 18 is like saying 'well screw it all, lets kill more underage children by drunk driving'. 18 is only two years after a liscence. I would still be extremely anxious almost every day to go out for a ride. If drinking at eighteen would be legalized, than it would sound almost like an invitation, thus causing drunk driving.

 

[Pumpkin Fields]

People aren't allowed to drink when they're 18 because they could hurt or kill themselves or someone else. At 18 you're allowed to join the millitary and be placed in the line of fire where the intention is to kill other people.

Just something to think about.

 

[jmadude]

The legal age is 21 for a reason. There were a lot of drinking and driving accidents and the number of crashed since the drinking age went up have actually decreased (not by considerable amount though XD). I wouldn't mind if the drinking age went down to 18, since I don't consume alcohol, but it would be extremely hard to do since the national government would cut some of a state's funds should the drinking age be lower.

 

[Chloroform Girl]

Drnking age IS 18 here, although I've been drinking for maybe 2-3 years now and I'm only 17. ALMOST 18 though :P woot canada!