Lil Red Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 +JMJ+ [url="http://biggovernment.com/ngillespie/2010/04/07/reason-tv-21-is-it-time-to-lower-the-drinking-age/"]From Reason TV:[/url] The drinking age in the US has been 21 for more than 20 years. Today, we all take the drinking age for granted, but should we? In fact, the US is one of only four countries in the world with a drinking age as high as 21—the other three are Indonesia, Mongolia and Palau. Is the policy working to reduce health and safety issues related to youthful alchohol abuse? Is enforcing the drinking age the best use of scarce public resources? What are the unintended consequences of alcohol prohibition for 18-20 year olds? Organizations such as Mother Against Drunk Driving (MADD) argue that the drinking age is an effective policy and that the answer to ongoing alcohol related problems for 18-20 year olds is more education and better enforcement. John McCardell, president of Choose Responsibility, and 135 university presidents and chancellors across the country believe it’s time to take a fresh look at the drinking age. The former president of Middlebury College and the new head of Sewanee/University of the South, McCardell says our current system encourages unsupervised binge drinking. Reason.tv went to the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, Wisconsin to get a first-hand look at the war on underage drinking. =========== video at the link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 Canada has a drinking age of 18 or 19, and as far as I know there are no reported consequences of this. I'd go so far as to say that even 18 or 19 are too high. If I were in charge I'd really relax drinking laws, especially as to whether or not minors may drink accompanied by parents/guardians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aalpha1989 Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 People will be irresponsible with alcohol whether it is illegal or not. It should be legal so that people with brains can enjoy God's gift to mankind and we should end the influence of puritan morals on our laws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIKolbe Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 the drinking age should be raised to 25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aalpha1989 Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 [quote name='MIkolbe' date='12 April 2010 - 05:01 PM' timestamp='1271106070' post='2091821'] the drinking age should be raised to 25 [/quote] So should the mental age for internet posting...[img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/mellow.gif[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Presbylicious Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 [quote name='aalpha1989' date='12 April 2010 - 02:04 PM' timestamp='1271106298' post='2091825'] So should the mental age for internet posting...[img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/mellow.gif[/img] [/quote] Teehee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aalpha1989 Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 [quote name='Lil Red' date='12 April 2010 - 02:03 PM' timestamp='1271095404' post='2091594'] +JMJ+ Is the policy working to reduce health and safety issues related to youthful alchohol abuse? Is enforcing the drinking age the best use of scarce public resources? What are the unintended consequences of alcohol prohibition for 18-20 year olds? [/quote] The unintended consequence is that the only reason most of them drink is to abuse the substance, and the number of people who do is not small. It is depressing how widespread the abuse of alcohol is in college, and I guarantee it would improve if the drinking age was lowered. More people would legally drink and there would be a positive influence which is currently illegal. Not that the consequences matter too much... the law is unjust regardless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IgnatiusofLoyola Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 (edited) [quote name='aalpha1989' date='12 April 2010 - 04:08 PM' timestamp='1271106536' post='2091832'] The unintended consequence is that the only reason most of them drink is to abuse the substance, and the number of people who do is not small. It is depressing how widespread the abuse of alcohol is in college, and I guarantee it would improve if the drinking age was lowered. More people would legally drink and there would be a positive influence which is currently illegal. Not that the consequences matter too much... the law is unjust regardless. [/quote] Is this really true? (I'm not saying it isn't.) But, I have read accounts of life at Cambridge and Oxford (where the drinking age is 18--or is it younger than that?) and it sounds as if a LOT of really heavy drinking goes on at those universities. I read one book where an American who studied at Cambridge for a year recounted his experiences, and he said that the amount of heavy drinking and drunken behavior that he experienced at Cambridge was much worse than anything he saw as an undergraduate at Yale. However, this book was written in the early 1990's and things might have changed. Anyone with experiences at British universities have an opinion on this? As so often happens, I can't decide what I think about this. I can see both sides. Edited April 12, 2010 by IgnatiusofLoyola Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 I have read that alcohol abuse is prevalent and truly a problem in Britain. On the other hand, what about Italy? No drinking laws at all, and binge drinking is not considered a problem. I think it may have more to do with the national culture than with the law itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinytherese Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 The real problem seems to be that our culture doesn't promote drinking in moderation. If it was more normal to do that than it wouldn't be as big of a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toledo_jesus Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 It's been my opinion that if one is old enough to serve in the military one should be old enough for beer. Voting on the other hand, I would restrict to age 25 and up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OraProMe Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 It's 18 in Australia which I really like but to be honest it's probably not a good idea to make driving a car without supervision and purchasing alcohol legal on the same day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilde Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 Here it's 18 for beer and stuff, and then 20 for things like rum and vodka Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aalpha1989 Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 [quote name='Hilde' date='12 April 2010 - 10:19 PM' timestamp='1271125146' post='2092173'] Here it's 18 for beer and stuff, and then 20 for things like rum and vodka [/quote] oh wow, I didn't know any countries had laws like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintOfVirtue Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 I believe the drinking age should stay where its at. It keeps minors from drinking irresponsibly, and if they lower the drinking age I think you will see the number of DUI's involving minors go up. I see no reason for the number of DUI charges to fall lower with the drinking age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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