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 Lowering The Legal Drinking Age 

Should the legal drinking age be lowered from 21 to 18?
No 33%  33%  [ 1 ]
Yes 67%  67%  [ 2 ]
Total votes : 3

 Lowering The Legal Drinking Age 
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http://wral.com/news/local/story/1281361/

Ok so I found this article on a news website from back home. Apparently a retired college president is lobbying to lower the legal drinking age from 21 to 18. How does everyone feel about this? He believes that it will help to curb underage drinking and that young adults will learn to drink responsibly at younger ages. Does anyone else think this is a crock of shit? Well yeah duh it will curb underage drinking if you lower the age, because the same kids will still be drinking either way. I mean I guess I might feel differently about this because I am legally old enough to drink and might have a different viewpoint if I were younger. Just curious how you guys feel about this??

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Emily Hartnett


Fri Apr 20, 2007 5:29 am
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I have less than a month before I turn 21, and while I have to say I would be very upset and disappointed if this passed anytime soon, simply because I had to wait so long before it was finally my turn, I do believe it's a good idea to lower the drinking age. I think 18 is a little low however, especially for American’s, who as a nation view drinking much differently than do most Europeans. I think 19 or 20 would be an adequate age because by then teenagers have had a chance to be out on their own for a little bit, gain a year or two of maturity, and since there aren't as many people in high school who are 19 and 20 as there are 18 year olds, the possibility of an increase in underage drinking among high school students would not increase as greatly.

I feel this way for a few reasons. One, the legal drinking age was 18 for our parent's generation. Currently, almost every country, other than the good old US of A, considers 18 to be an appropriate legal drinking age. Some countries even consider 16 to be appropriate, although these countries are the exception and usually drinking is a part of their culture in which, a glass of wine is reminiscent of a glass of water.

Second, I think 21 years are a few too many to wait. America finds itself with many dead 21 year olds each year. Ever hear of taking 21 shots on your birthday? Or drinking till you blackout? I think this happens because making young adults wait so long before they are allowed to drink makes turning of legal age a larger ordeal than it really is.

Anyway, that's just my opinion. I know my mom feels the same way about it. She says all the time, "the drinking age was 18 when I was a kid and nothing horrible happened. Nothing more horrible than what happens today when young people drink. If you have the right to vote, to get married, and to die for your country, you should have the right to drink while your doing it." Yep, those are my mom's eminent words of wisdom!! :lol: :roll:

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Sarah Concra


Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:06 am
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I remember having many conversations with international students when I worked in the LLC about legal drinking ages. They all thought our situation was pretty ridiculous and would give what seemed to me to be good reasons as to why the drinking age being 18 or 16 made things better for everyone. Drinking loses its mystique, it doesn't have to done in secret (which improves relations w/ parents), teens become responsible for their behavior more quickly, police have more time to focus on safety and crime because they're not so busy chasing after drunk 20-year olds, etc. And as anyone who's turned 21 can tell you, it's absolutely true that it's just not a big deal anymore once you get to that point. Sarah, can you please confirm/deny this for us?

I'm inclined to take Europe's word on this one. The youth of this country is (to put it plainly) made up of a bunch of foolish brats and overgrown babies. Why not try something different, make them grow up a bit more quickly and see if we can reap any positive effects from the change?


Fri Apr 20, 2007 1:51 pm
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Ok, I just turned 21 a couple of weeks ago, so I voted no, but obviously before my birthday I would have voted yes. I really do think that there are some good arguements for lowering the drinking age to 18. You can vote, but you can't drink. You can enlist and fight in a war, but you can't drink. When so many freedoms are offered at 18, why restrict drinking?

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Katie David


Fri Apr 20, 2007 10:43 pm
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I am 21 and I don't drink, but I voted that it should be lowered. Younger people do it anyway, and like doug said, maybe it won't seem so appealing if its legal. I feel the same about the legalization of marijuana , although I think it could be used for more good than alcohol can. I also don't smoke, but I still support both of these aspects. I feel like marijuana is less dangerous in some ways than alcohol. Ok, anyway, I am off topic. So yes, lower the drinking age. As we hear often, "if you can go to war you should be able to drink" and I agree.

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Lauren Cagle


Sun Apr 22, 2007 1:07 pm
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I agree with Lauren on this one (about the marijuana issue too). I'm not sure if 18 is an appropriate age, but 21 does seem a little extreme. However, socially I don't know if it would work to just one day lower the age.... other countries have had lower ages for so long that their society knows how to handle it. I feel if we lowered the drinking age suddenly, kids would go pretty crazy.

And I could totally be making this up, but isn't the drinking age still technically 18? I feel like I heard in highschool that Mothers Against Drunk Driving lobbied for the drinking age to be linked to government highway funding. Therefore if any states choose to keep their drinking age below 21, they won't receive any money from the government for their highway budget.... I remember being taught that the MADD lobbyist group is one of the successful stories of all time....

I could be making this up though, I honestly can't remember....

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-Allison Sawicki


Sun Apr 22, 2007 5:21 pm
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Lower it, people drink anyways. I'm getting ready to turn 21 next week and I'm really excited, but I'm not sure why. If I wanted to get a drink right now, I know how to get one. I agree that making it legal will make it a little less appealing to most people. But, on the other hand, think about the number of DUI's and possible deaths because of younger people drinking as much as they want. I feel that if you can buy something as terrible as cigarettes and dip at 18, then you should be able to buy alcohol.

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Matt Cobb


Mon Apr 23, 2007 11:00 am
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