thats a really good point but not all people are like that. not that many teens are that responsible. but also im not saying that there arent any.

I was watching oprah and well they showed how women from all over the world relax. and they happened to show the countries of mexico and kuwait (is that correct?) but the women they interviewed were very intelligent and beautiful and also rich lol . but they said americans take everything to fast. they try to get "wasted". The woman from mexico said you should drink in moderation and relax. and the woman from kuwait said that americans were too stressed from their work or school that they wanted to get wasted. i believe this is very true. i mean you can still have fun and drink just do it responsibly . i mean i admit i have drank but not to the point were i was intoxicated.

Come over to Texas and I'll show you those consequences myself! I'll get drunk just for you.

i believe it should. in taiwan, the legal drinking age is at 18, when you become an adult. and i think that in the states, it should be lowered till 18 as well. afterall, they've become adults. they should have the freedom of choice.

Like I said, it would make alot more sense. But we do live in America. What DOES make sense?

Like someone else said, it's the attitude that matters. An exchange student from Holland my sister met told her the drinking age there is 16. They go to the pub a lot, but none of them have an alcohol problem.

I don't really know, maybe it's the fact that the alcohol is available and open to them that doesn't make it as appealing as it is here. I think the reason teenagers like to drink or start drinking is because it makes them feel rebellious and as if they're "living on the edge". Since it's not available to them it makes them want to try it.

Sorry if I'm stereotyping, but it's how a lot of teens these days are. Hey I'm one of them.

Mucho love,

Alyson

no because all it would do is cause more accidents and deaths .. alot of accidents are involved with drinking .. soo the more drinking the more accidents and the lower the drinking age the more people that will begin to drink

Whats the point of an alcoholic beverage?

agreeed. my grandfather died of alcoholism. and since then..i've vowed to not drink at all.

That has absolutely nothing to do with this topic, but some people drink to feel good. They get a buzz. I dont drink....I absolutely hate the taste of beer, but I understand why people go out and have a drink and socialize. I think it's absolutely ignorant to say "DoOd! I chugged a whole case last night!". There's a difference between drinking to drink, and drinking to get drunk.

"Please drink responsibly."

the whole age limit isnt really stopping anything from happening when it comes to crap like drunk drivin anymore cuz its just too easy to get alcohol so theres really no point in lowering it raisin it or gettin rid of it

If you look at the example of most European nations, it would show that overall, lowering the drinking age wouldn't unleash the hell that some people think it would.

When people are exposed to it at a younger age, they generally are more able to make well thought out decisions. That's my experience anyway. My dad has allowed to me drink since I was 14, but since I got the taste of it at that young age, I never felt the desire to do so. I don't know, it's all IMO.

because of the drinking age think: i can and do drive, but i have no idea how to tell if i'm drunk, and if i ever get offered alchol, do you think i'll know if my senses are impaired, and to let my friend drive?

i think not.

I think it should go higher. Then less people would get into injuries, but drunk driving or etc..

I would have to argue Yes. Yes, People do it anyways now adays is true, how ever that doesn't make it right. People in Spain are allowed to drink at younger ages, & who has the higher alchohalic rate? The United States. If kids are allowed to drink at 16 than their parents can teach them to be moderate & temporate. Perhaps there could be a restriction on how many drinks are bought. If its illeggal, people do it just for the thrill of doing something illegal. Therefor I think that the drinking age should be lowered!

Thats damn smart

nevertheless minor that drink are more likely to become alcoholics, and when they get to the drinking age they usually drink a hell of a lot more than they used to, I've seen this happen to many of my good friends, and yet there is nothing anyone can do about it, kids should be taught about being responsible with their drinking, and it doesn't help that the adults sometimes parents supply the alcohol, its a sad world we live in.

I really don't see a point in changing the legal drinking age, because if they start young they will continue to drink and then die young, I'm not anti drinking or anything but people really do need to learn to drink responsibly or don't drink at all.

Should be lowerd to 18... technically you're an 'adult' and you can also vote at 18... and you can join the army and whatnot, so I think it should be lowered.

Duh! To get laid, dumbass!

i dont think it should be lowered. .but i dont think that it would really matter becaues underaged kids would probably keep on drinking illegally.

i dont think it should be lowered because they made a certain age to drink for a purpose; drinking could lead to doing drugs which is bad.

I think not cause then there would be more drunken car drivers meaning more car accidents, and a chance there will be more unwanted pregnancies.

Of course not. I believe that many people drink underage anyway. But at least with that, if they get caught, it might stop them. That will just promote drinking. In Europe, it's different. People grow up to learn that drinking is okay as long as you don't get drunk and can control yourself. In America, it's okay to get drunk at all ages and it's incredably intolerable.

No, I personally think definetely not. There are enough deaths caused by adults getting drunk. Also, there are such big problems when there are parties where beer is being served to like 18 years old. Go to http://www.nobac.org/swanson.html it's a poem about a drunk driver.

if you want to see more poems about drunk driving go to: http://www.nobac.org/poems.html

I agree. There are many other things that could happen, as well. I mean, cops are getting serious about this now. My mom, bro, and I were driving home from a stand-up comedy show and there was traffic and cops and stuff. When we got closer we found out they were doing a DUI check on everyone that went through. My mom had had some wine that night but thank god the man couldn't smell it on her breath. But she wasn't drunk or anything.

It shouldn't be lowered at all. Many people died from drunk driving, right? So what's the point.

When you think about it, it should almost become higher, but that would cause a bunch of problems, wouldn't it? But, so many young adults abuse the privlege of being able to drink...hmmm...

drunk drivers are drunk because:

1) they're adults who are alcoholics.

2) they're kids who drank a lot becuase it's illegal.

no. we don't need more drunks

or they are careless drivers that aren't supposed to drive while drunk.



just because its illegal doesn't make a kid go and drink. murdering is illegal. but kids dont go around murdering ppl because theyre not supposed to do it.

[edit] i just read another topic...and u were being sarcastic....and....are u being sarcastic here? cuz it kinda sounded like it. im confused..

^ i think he was being serious.

the risk is what makes a lot of kids drink. they think they're cool because they're doing something they're not supposed to do, just like smoking and drugs.

sure, at first, lowering the drinking age would make a bunch of kids run out and buy a bunch of alcohol, but in the long run, doing something you're allowed to do without any hesitation would get boring.

well, my friends get wasted on beer because it's cool and illegal.

responsibility can only be taught at a young age.

how many kids do you see that missuse sissors?

it's because they learned as little kids how to handle them.

and not, i wasn't being sarcastic... i usually contradict myself if i am.

No i do not think it should be lowered, although like 75% of the teenage population drinks anyways..

Sorry for using this word but I'm atheist so it doesn't mean a thing to me to say this:
OH God no. In my mind the drinking age should be raised.Maybe like the age limit should be around i don't know 55. No i'm just kidding but really i think 21 is too young. the Adults who wait all their teenage life to turn 21 just to drink and what not are just wasting a perfectly good life. All the beer and alcohol is going to do is kill you from the inside out.

Yes, Its stupid how they draft you or make it legal for you to
sign up in the army and sent you to die at war at age of 18 but
you cant drink till your 21 because your not old enough? .
thats just how I see it if you dont agree then just say you dont agree
dont go on with aguments because i dont wanna get into one

There should be no drinking age. It should be abolished.

capitalism would thrive and it would be up to the parents to instill good values in their children. Irresponsibility comes from being sheltered all their lives and then let loose with all these freedoms and no knowledge of the world.

The reason the law has to step in is because there are no parents anymore.

Dont let our generation fall to the statistics. Get married once.

i agree ... that way all the "hype" that is built up around drinking would slowly fade away.

drinking isnt a sin
getting drunk is a sin

Why at 18 can a person go off to war and get his legs blown off, and kill many more people than a drunk driving accident would kill, yet is deemed to irresponsible to drink...hmm

I don't think drinking should be lower. The body cannot handle the chemical at a younger age, your body is weak at that point. I think drinking is for the depression, people that have problem like addictiion. Drinking some sort of alcohol is not tasty and not good for the body. I believe drinking should be use for some occasions like big celebration. Alcohol free is the way to be. Why would drinking should be lower? For those unpatiently wannabe?.. No offense. In my opinions.

well, its not like the drinknig age matters anyway. if they want to drink they will, no matter how old they are

since when is getting drunk a sin?

and fyi, if you're in the military and off in some other country, they allow you to drink if you want to.

the legal drinking limit on military bases is 18.

An excellent point.

As well, to those that said it should be abolished and the responsibility should be left up to American parents, think about this clause.

How many responsible American parents do you really think there are?

Definitely not enough to quell the chaos that would be caused if a legal statute concerning no drinking age was ever implemented.

Really. If they lower it down to what, 18? What good is that going to do? 18 year olds may not be that responsible enough to handle it and they might go out driving and killing people when they're drunk (incidents would be more common).

I think it's fine the way it is, even though drunk driving is still an issue. People aren't using common sense a lot of times, but I think the older you are, the more experience you have and the lesser chance it is that you're going to "accidentally" kill someone when you're drunk. And you know how young college kids are; they just want to party and they illegally drink as it is. And they go crazy and violate lots of rules. Imagine if they made it legal for them to drink; how many more crimes do you think would we have? Why do you think they made the smoking age 18 and drinking age 21?

Alcohol does what, exactly?

The point of getting so shitfaced that you vomit and forget who your own family is what, again?

Losing control of your emotions and actions to the point of violence does what good?

Why does alcohol exist.

Answer these questions and then I'll consider even popsing an argument to a topic that shouldn't even exist. I'm not against alcohol, I just believe its rather pointless and causes more harm than good in our society.

^ i agree, but if you're trying to get that it should be outlawed..our country tried that once, and it worked out for the worse.

Alcohol is pointless because all it causes is problems. Same with cigarettes. But all those companies that make them are getting rich from it and if you outlaw alcohol, imagine how many people would lose their jobs. There could be a big crash on the economic system. The same goes for cigarettes. So humans should be using common sense, which a lot of them don't have when it comes to the amount of alcohol they consume or if they want to drive while they're drunk..
Maybe people will be more responsible about how they drink and maybe they won't. Which is a horrible thing to depend on because it could be threatening other innocent peoples' lives. So we want to set a limit to what age we think people will be more wise at.

You can't sit there and complain about "the dangers of alcohol" without doing something about it, but it's not that easy. The greatest alternative is already nearly impossible to achieve. So that's why we at least have an age barrier which is already pushing the limit at 21. If anything, higher it because it seems a lot of 21 year olds now are pretty unwise.

It doesn't matter. People still break the law by drinking when you're not supposed to because you're too young. Like a few friends that i know, they're in the 7th grade and they drink. :\

Well, I think it shouldn't be lowered.

thats two different topics - theyre not related.
when youre 18, youre physically fit to fight in a war. otherwise, they wouldn't draft you. at 18, your mind is not capable of making decisions after drinking, so the drinking age is 21.

Agreed.

But tobacco and alcohol aren't even in the same ballpark. Nicotine is a sugar overdose compared to alcohol.

I like cigars, though.

my friends get wasted on beer every weekend.

`cus it's cool.

and it's cool, cus it's illegal.

that's what they say.

if it were legal, they'd probably still drink. just not as much.