Drinking Age

[classical liberal]

Rather than having an age limit, there should be a test to judge capability.  To vote, one should have to pass a civics exam akin to the naturalization exam.  I could have passed the exam at age 14 and become a vote back then.  Along the same lines, I know 30 year olds who really shouldn't be allowed to vote due to their ignorance.  The driver's test should be the only restriction on driving.  If a 14 year old can drive and their legal guardian permits it, that person should be allowed to drive.  Whereas if a person is 70 but can't drive properly then that person should not be allowed to drive.

[Rules for me, but not for thee]

The whole reason we have a 21 drinking age is all the commie moms in this country got together and complained to Washington to raise the age from 18 to "save lives".   Like George Carlin, I believe we are saving way too many people in this country and life is inherently dangerous.

So Washington bent to the constant nagging, and if states didn't raise the age, the Feds were going to cut funding for the roads.  So eventually, they all gave in.  

What needs to happen is the state need to learn to function without any help from the FedGov and fight back the tide of increasing centralism in our country.

[Dave from Michigan]

lower it,  I'm sick of driving to Canada

[bejkuy]

It's been a few years since I was in the Army and I never had any interest in alcohol,  but my recollection is that 18 year-olds ARE allowed to drink on millitary bases.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

I think it should be 19, like most of Canada.  

You should be able to drink in college, but not in high school...mostly because 18 year old high school students tend to drive a lot more than college students.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

The federal 21 drinking age must be abolished, because it's pretty clear it doesn't do any good. In fact, it encourages people under 21 to drink.

You know America is the ONLY[/i] developed nation where it's as high as 21?

[opebo]

18 is too old. I voted for state by state.  I really don't think there should be any law on this issue.

[muon2]

one problem is that it is technically still a state decision. However, the federal government tied access to highway funds to states with a minimum age of 21. The linkage survived court challenges at the time, and no state could afford its highway system without federal assistance. Thus, we have a national standard dictated by federal control of the highway trust fund.

I've spoken to some of my German friends on this issue. We discovered an important difference. The US makes access to driving much easier than do the Germans. They also felt that teen drinking and driving is a problem, but they feel that it is better to restrict the driving than the drinking.

[muon2]

one problem is that it is technically still a state decision. However, the federal government tied access to highway funds to states with a minimum age of 21. The linkage survived court challenges at the time, and no state could afford its highway system without federal assistance. Thus, we have a national standard dictated by federal control of the highway trust fund.

Then it REALLY is NOT a state decision, is it?

I'm not in favor of the way the federal government passed down this mandate. But the method was clever since it allowed the circumvention of state control over alcohol, which otherwise is untouchable with the 21st amendment.

The state decision is whether to set their own minimum drinking age, or to augment their road funds with federal money. Needless to say, every state that was not at 21 opted for the latter.

[Brambila]

I really don't think there should be a drinking age limit... all should be able to drink. Likewise, Marijuana should be legalized...

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

It's been a few years since I was in the Army and I never had any interest in alcohol,  but my recollection is that 18 year-olds ARE allowed to drink on millitary bases.

that's what a kid my freshmen year on my floor who was in the Army told me.

Like I said though, it's pointless. Anyone on a college campus can get alcohol. But since I wasn't driving anyway, there was no problems.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

oh yeah if you want some irony my former RA is getting me alcohol now.

It was her job to catch me if I had any when I was in the dorms (which she never did) and now she's giving it to me! ha ha.

[raggage]

I can't believe you all think it should be lowered. When you are assigned to respond to a drink driving accident when a drunk 17 year old killed himself and 4 other people, and you have to notify the parents I think you'll change your mind.

Case and point. 18 year olds are NOT mature enough for alcohol.

[YRABNNRM]

If you are old enough to vote and to serve and possibly die for your country then you should be allowed to drink.

[Lunar]

Anyone have statistics from various countries relating to drunk driving?

[Brambila]

In Europe there's no drinking limit, and they're doing fine.

[dazzleman]

I would support an 18-year-old drinking age, but I think the states should decide.

In general, I think that if you're old enough to vote, serve in the military, get married and commit to legal contracts, you should be old enough to have a drink.

I understand that many young people abuse alcohol, but I think that the older drinking age makes it even more attractive.  Also, plenty of older people also abuse alcohol.

All we are doing now is criminalizing something that just about everybody does.  I don't know anybody who didn't drink years before they turned 21.  Sneaking around and doing it illegally, with the danger of getting caught, only makes it more fun.

Some states, particularly in the south, punish underage drinking fairly severely considering the insignificant nature of the offense.  It's a waste of time, and it never stopped anybody from drinking.  I know guys who got busted for underage drinking and had to do community service and attend alcohol classes early on Saturday mornings for weeks.  They always bragged about how they went to the classes hung over.

I say raise the drinking age, but punish dangerous behavior like drunk driving.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

In Europe there's no drinking limit, and they're doing fine.

This is certainly not true.  I don't know of any European country that has NO legal age for purchasing alcohol.  In most countries it is 16 or 18.  

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I had a teacher who visited Germany, and he said the McDonald's restaurants there serve big mugs of beer to little kids.

[Brambila]

Then it must be an ignored law, since I just got back from a vacation full of Italians and several of them said there's no law on alcohol consumption. I really don't think it's the government's buisness to regulate that though.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I can't believe you all think it should be lowered. When you are assigned to respond to a drink driving accident when a drunk 17 year old killed himself and 4 other people, and you have to notify the parents I think you'll change your mind.

Case and point. 18 year olds are NOT mature enough for alcohol.

I have never driven any night after I have been drinking, and that includes when I was 18. So what did I do wrong?

Usually when I go to parties I'll walk to the party, and call a taxi or get a ride from someone else if I can't walk back. I'll probably still do that in 4 months when I'm 21.

[raggage]

I can't believe you all think it should be lowered. When you are assigned to respond to a drink driving accident when a drunk 17 year old killed himself and 4 other people, and you have to notify the parents I think you'll change your mind.

Case and point. 18 year olds are NOT mature enough for alcohol.

I have never driven any night after I have been drinking, and that includes when I was 18. So what did I do wrong?

Usually when I go to parties I'll walk to the party, and call a taxi or get a ride from someone else if I can't walk back. I'll probably still do that in 4 months when I'm 21.

Well congratulations, honestly and sincerly. But most 18 year olds as traffic records will indicate do not display this level of maturity, at least not over the whole age group. In the eyes of someone in career law-enforcement, it would be a terrible idea.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Then it must be an ignored law, since I just got back from a vacation full of Italians and several of them said there's no law on alcohol consumption. I really don't think it's the government's buisness to regulate that though.

The age for buying and consumer beer in Germany and Italy is 16...although it is true it is probably routinely ignored.

I can see it both ways in terms of teenagers, but certainly the government has duty to regulate the actions of CHILDREN.  Can an eight year old really make an informed choice about whether to drink alcohol or not?  You can say it is the parents' responsibility, but what if the child is an orphan or has irresponsible parents?

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Make it one age for everything.  Vote, drink, gamble, etc. all at 17.  Why?  I'm 16, and I think I can handle all of those things, and I have before.  But I also know some real stupid 16 year olds that I would not go near if they had a beer in their hand.  So.....17 sounds right to me.  

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I know some stupid 30-year-olds who I wouldn't go near with a beer in their hand.