Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered to 18 in the US? - Read My HuffPo Piece

Enkidu

Hey, I'm not hocking my book any more. (Whew.) I'm a Huffington Post blogger now. And I thought this would be an interesting subject for this group. Take a read, see what you think.

Thanks!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ann-lewis-hamilton/rethinking-the-drinking-age_b_6941674.html

rr165892

Ann,Good article.

I absolutely feel the MLDA should be lowered.
My kids 20,22 and 24 all allegedly had or have fake Id for drinking.My concern is not drinking but drinking and driving ,and for the girls drinking and puttin themselves in a position to be taken advantage of.

We ask our young adults to sign up with selective service,we tell them they will be tried as adults if they get in trouble,they can now legally get into many establishments. Hypocritical to ask these young uns to kill or be killed for your country.Your old enough for that but not to drink.Kinda BS if you ask me.

Last-12-Exit

As long as you can die for your country, you should be able to legally drink a beer in your country.

RKCNDY

I think that if we are to lower the drinking age, then we need to have tougher DUI laws.

Another thing, since the legal drinking age is 21, and being from Washington state, we also have a marijuana law, no one under the age of 21 is to enter a marijuana retail store. They card you the instant you enter. So if it were lowered, then we would have to lower the 'legal marijuana consumption age'-yes, I realize people under 21 consume marijuana.

From what I understand, the age of 21 was set because a person's brain isn't fully formed until much later in life, so they were (supposedly) attempting to protect brain function. I understand in the EU that children are allowed in pubs, can have a drink with their parents when they are 16 (?), but cannot purchase for themselves until 18-someone from across the pond please feel free to correct me. If this is correct, then in that type of environment, drinking is not considered the same as it is here. Meaning, in the US it seems that drinking is viewed as party hard and drink until you get shit-faced falling down.

All in all, you can blame Reagan for setting the drinking age at 21: http://www.legalflip.com/Article.aspx?id=20

Enkidu

It's such a complicated issue. I posted the HuffPo piece on FB yesterday and someone said that when the drinking age in VA went from 18 to 21, drug use exploded.

ldent42

rr165892 said:

Ann,Good article.

I absolutely feel the MLDA should be lowered.
My kids 20,22 and 24 all allegedly had or have fake Id for drinking.My concern is not drinking but drinking and driving ,and for the girls drinking and puttin themselves in a position to be taken advantage of.

We ask our young adults to sign up with selective service,we tell them they will be tried as adults if they get in trouble,they can now legally get into many establishments. Hypocritical to ask these young uns to kill or be killed for your country.Your old enough for that but not to drink.Kinda BS if you ask me.

Seriously? seriously? Ugh.

I do agree with your entire second paragraph though. If you can vote, purchase tobacco products, be tried as an adult, and above all serve in the military at 18, there's no logical reason why you should not be allowed to legally purchase alcohol.

Indifference71

RKCNDY said:

I think that if we are to lower the drinking age, then we need to have tougher DUI laws.

How so? DUI laws seem pretty damn tough already. Pretty sure the limit is .08 in most states which is not a significant amount of alcohol

Last-12-Exit

RKCNDY said:

I think that if we are to lower the drinking age, then we need to have tougher DUI laws.

Another thing, since the legal drinking age is 21, and being from Washington state, we also have a marijuana law, no one under the age of 21 is to enter a marijuana retail store. They card you the instant you enter. So if it were lowered, then we would have to lower the 'legal marijuana consumption age'-yes, I realize people under 21 consume marijuana.

From what I understand, the age of 21 was set because a person's brain isn't fully formed until much later in life, so they were (supposedly) attempting to protect brain function. I understand in the EU that children are allowed in pubs, can have a drink with their parents when they are 16 (?), but cannot purchase for themselves until 18-someone from across the pond please feel free to correct me. If this is correct, then in that type of environment, drinking is not considered the same as it is here. Meaning, in the US it seems that drinking is viewed as party hard and drink until you get shit-faced falling down.

All in all, you can blame Reagan for setting the drinking age at 21: http://www.legalflip.com/Article.aspx?id=20

I think that is the big difference. Alcohol is treated as such a big deal. Most people that turn 21 can't wait to walk into a bar and legally drink. I don't have a problem with a 16 year old being able to drink a beer with a parent. That would make turning 21 not so big a deal.

Enkidu

Someone emailed me this yesterday after reading the post (a 19 year old) and I thought what she said was very interesting.

"I think that lowering it would be best but I also think it would take time for that to go into effect because it requires a cultural change. A lot of sociological theory is saying that drinking is less reckless in Europe because it's not viewed as such a taboo or risky behavior and thus the "thrill" factor is decreased - it's just something you do, not something deviant. It would take a while for that mentality to develop in the U.S. but I think lowering the drinking age is a good way to do it."

RKCNDY

Indifference71 said:

RKCNDY said:

I think that if we are to lower the drinking age, then we need to have tougher DUI laws.

How so? DUI laws seem pretty damn tough already. Pretty sure the limit is .08 in most states which is not a significant amount of alcohol

Well, apparently in my state, they are pretty lenient. A few years ago, some guy plowed through a family of 4, killed 2 people, and critically injuring a 12 day old baby and his mother. He had been arrested for DUI twice in the previous year, was ordered to install an ignition lock device but failed to, the state never checked up on him, so he was still able to drive drunk. Had the laws been tougher, perhaps those 2 people would still be alive today.

He was found to have 0.22, now he's serving 18 years-seems pretty lenient to me.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/03/mark-mullan-guilty-seattle-car-crash-dui_n_4038192.html

igotid88

A 16 year old can drink alcohol in a bar if they're with a parent? I think the drinking age should be raised to 40.

Who Princess

Indifference71 said:

RKCNDY said:

I think that if we are to lower the drinking age, then we need to have tougher DUI laws.

How so? DUI laws seem pretty damn tough already. Pretty sure the limit is .08 in most states which is not a significant amount of alcohol

The laws aren't that tough. It's expensive to get a DWI with the fines and court costs, but there are rarely any serious consequences unless the person injures or kills someone. If their license is suspended, they just drive without one. If they have a breathylizer on their car, they get someone else to blow into it. People often rack up numerous DWIs before they actually do any jail time.

PJSiren

Last-12-Exit said:

As long as you can die for your country, you should be able to legally drink a beer in your country.

I completely agree with this!

Enkidu

I agree about harsher DUI laws. If you read the HuffPo article, the ABC agents were staking out a bar (bars) at The Corner, this area across the street from UVa (walking distance to dorms and many apartments, btw), clearly looking for under-age kids who were drinking or trying to use fake i.d.s.

On St. Patrick's Day. Were there other ABC agents staking out other bars, bars where older people (older than 21) would be drinking (on St. Patrick's Day - people drinking???), people who had driven to a bar and not walked there? Who were getting shit-faced and planning to drive home?

Why go after ONLY kids? I don't get it. Go after drunk drivers.

Wobbie

bump in lieu of self promotion

oftenreading

ldent42 said:

rr165892 said:

Ann,Good article.

I absolutely feel the MLDA should be lowered.
My kids 20,22 and 24 all allegedly had or have fake Id for drinking.My concern is not drinking but drinking and driving ,and for the girls drinking and puttin themselves in a position to be taken advantage of.

We ask our young adults to sign up with selective service,we tell them they will be tried as adults if they get in trouble,they can now legally get into many establishments. Hypocritical to ask these young uns to kill or be killed for your country.Your old enough for that but not to drink.Kinda BS if you ask me.

Seriously? seriously? Ugh.

I do agree with your entire second paragraph though. If you can vote, purchase tobacco products, be tried as an adult, and above all serve in the military at 18, there's no logical reason why you should not be allowed to legally purchase alcohol.

I don't quite get your "ugh". Is it because rr only mentioned girls getting taken advantage of? Because I think as a parent of a teenager or young adult that is one of the biggies that you worry about - your kid drinking too much and getting into a situation where they can't make the decision that protects themselves. Whether that is not getting into a car with a drunk driver, or being able to leave when they're being pressured into sex that they don't want. Talking with your kids about staying sober enough to keep themselves safe, whether they are male or female, is not victim blaming.

RKCNDY

oftenreading said:

ldent42 said:

rr165892 said:

Ann,Good article.

I absolutely feel the MLDA should be lowered.
My kids 20,22 and 24 all allegedly had or have fake Id for drinking.My concern is not drinking but drinking and driving ,and for the girls drinking and puttin themselves in a position to be taken advantage of.

We ask our young adults to sign up with selective service,we tell them they will be tried as adults if they get in trouble,they can now legally get into many establishments. Hypocritical to ask these young uns to kill or be killed for your country.Your old enough for that but not to drink.Kinda BS if you ask me.

Seriously? seriously? Ugh.

I do agree with your entire second paragraph though. If you can vote, purchase tobacco products, be tried as an adult, and above all serve in the military at 18, there's no logical reason why you should not be allowed to legally purchase alcohol.

I don't quite get your "ugh". Is it because rr only mentioned girls getting taken advantage of? Because I think as a parent of a teenager or young adult that is one of the biggies that you worry about - your kid drinking too much and getting into a situation where they can't make the decision that protects themselves. Whether that is not getting into a car with a drunk driver, or being able to leave when they're being pressured into sex that they don't want. Talking with your kids about staying sober enough to keep themselves safe, whether they are male or female, is not victim blaming.

So again, we are putting the responsibility on the girls to fend off an over zealous male that wants to get in her pants? Why not teach these 'young responsible adult men' to respect the word 'no'. Or in general, to respect a young woman who has consumed too much alcohol and passed out by making sure she is well cared for until she is sober enough to go home?
We hear of several cases of rape by underage college kids who 'drank too much...oops' correct?
If these so called 'adults', are old enough to die for our country, they damn well know better than to take advantage of a person who has had too much to drink. Alcohol use for unacceptable behavior needs to quit being used as an excuse.
Take some fucking responsibility for your actions.

pjhawks

one problem with 18 is that there are 18 year olds still in high school. allowing 18 year olds to purchase beer and alcohol would make it so much easier for younger high school kids to get it. I might be in favor of something a little more strict. 18 to drink but can't legally purchase kegs or cases or alcohol. something like that might wor

19 is probably a better age to make it so almost all college age kids would be legal to drink,

Indifference71

Enkidu said:

Why go after ONLY kids? I don't get it. Go after drunk drivers.

Not sure where you live, but in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs you always hear about DUI checkpoints and road blocks to crack down on drunk drivers. And it's always around a holiday like 4th of July, Memorial Day, St. Pattys Day, etc... when there is plenty of drinking going on. So I wouldn't say law enforcement is only going after kids....but I guess maybe that depends where you live...

oftenreading

RKCNDY said:

oftenreading said:

ldent42 said:

rr165892 said:

Ann,Good article.

I absolutely feel the MLDA should be lowered.
My kids 20,22 and 24 all allegedly had or have fake Id for drinking.My concern is not drinking but drinking and driving ,and for the girls drinking and puttin themselves in a position to be taken advantage of.

We ask our young adults to sign up with selective service,we tell them they will be tried as adults if they get in trouble,they can now legally get into many establishments. Hypocritical to ask these young uns to kill or be killed for your country.Your old enough for that but not to drink.Kinda BS if you ask me.

Seriously? seriously? Ugh.

I do agree with your entire second paragraph though. If you can vote, purchase tobacco products, be tried as an adult, and above all serve in the military at 18, there's no logical reason why you should not be allowed to legally purchase alcohol.

I don't quite get your "ugh". Is it because rr only mentioned girls getting taken advantage of? Because I think as a parent of a teenager or young adult that is one of the biggies that you worry about - your kid drinking too much and getting into a situation where they can't make the decision that protects themselves. Whether that is not getting into a car with a drunk driver, or being able to leave when they're being pressured into sex that they don't want. Talking with your kids about staying sober enough to keep themselves safe, whether they are male or female, is not victim blaming.

So again, we are putting the responsibility on the girls to fend off an over zealous male that wants to get in her pants? Why not teach these 'young responsible adult men' to respect the word 'no'. Or in general, to respect a young woman who has consumed too much alcohol and passed out by making sure she is well cared for until she is sober enough to go home?
We hear of several cases of rape by underage college kids who 'drank too much...oops' correct?
If these so called 'adults', are old enough to die for our country, they damn well know better than to take advantage of a person who has had too much to drink. Alcohol use for unacceptable behavior needs to quit being used as an excuse.
Take some fucking responsibility for your actions.

It's not an either/or situation. Of course the responsibility is on men not to take advantage of intoxicated women. That doesn't take away from the fact that it is wise to keep yourself sober enough to be able to protect yourself or get yourself out of whatever bad situation might happen, male or female.

Enkidu

Indifference71 said:

Enkidu said:

Why go after ONLY kids? I don't get it. Go after drunk drivers.

Not sure where you live, but in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs you always hear about DUI checkpoints and road blocks to crack down on drunk drivers. And it's always around a holiday like 4th of July, Memorial Day, St. Pattys Day, etc... when there is plenty of drinking going on. So I wouldn't say law enforcement is only going after kids....but I guess maybe that depends where you live...

I don't live in Virginia any more, but my brother does and he says the ABC system is really a joke in how they concentrate on under-age drinking and not "over-age" drinking. He went to some music festival and saw lots of older drunk people really messed up and no ABC agents approached them. But they were all over young people.

In CA they have DUI checkpoints for everybody - you don't hear about UCLA or USC students being targeted the way they are at UVa.