ha, with the drinking laws the way they are, I imagine it is! :D

^-- AGREED

Well it could go either way. Drinking would either be less popular, thus helping, or more DUIs and car accidents. I think it should be moved to 18, instead of 21. More of a happy medium.

when it comes down to it, if its not illegal, its not exciting. Thats wy people all around the world dont get together and pull a "DUDE! LETS GET SOME LE BEER!!!!!!" cuz people would be like, why? We just had wine with le dinner. (haha french) It becomes sensationalized. I have a friend whose whole family drinks. nOT like alcoholics, but always wine with dinner and beer with meals and stuff, so when me and my friend get together to drink, she doesnt get excited. were all like MUST GET ALCOHOL!!! WAAAAH. She doesnt care cuz she gets it whenever. And all of my friends that are over 21, are already over it. Now that they can drink, tey dont really care either. Its the most dangerous when kids are trying to get as much as they can without getting caught because its dangerous and teens like to be dangerous. Eliminate the drinking law and its not excitin anymore.

i say legalise it. along with weed and cigarettes. the ONLY reason people do it is to be rebelious. once that thrill is gone there will be nothing to it.

So because drinking is allowed to people under the age of 21, more rape, sexual abuse, car accidents, etc will happen? What makes you think that?

Drinking seems to be so taboo, and people seem to be overenthusiastic about it. Especially when they do it illegally. Kids nowadays think it's ohsocool to get wasted because it's illegal. I'm sorry, but beer doesn't taste that amazing. But telling your friends you have full access to something not everyone else has or can have is.

If the drinking age were eliminated, parents would be much more diligant about teaching their children to drink responsibly at an early age because right now, it seems alcohol alltogether has been a subject that parents try to avoid from their kids.

It is commonly accepted here that alcohol is not allowed for kids because their bodies are not strong enough to handle it. If kids knew that throughout their childhood, why would they drink it? Well, a lot of them do now because it's illegal and that makes it "cool". But if it wasn't illegal, who would want to drink it? And who would be excited enough to get senselessly drunk if they could have it anytime?

If ICEE's became illegal because of brainfreeze, I'm sure people would be making ICEE's at home "illegally" and showing it off to their friends.

So my point is, yes, I don't think that there should be a drinking age, BUT there should be a few restrictions to keep kids already addicted from killing themselves. Such as a law that prevents anyone younger than 21 to buy very strong liqours or large amounts of beer. Or something along those lines.

^ linking to that, the libralization laws in switzerland regarding heroin have led to an 80% decrease in new users.

why? because it takes away the glamour... same would be the case with alcohol.

Yes and No. Yes because it does eliminate the whole curiosity thing and no because I don't think us Americans are responsible enough to handle drinking at a young age. The law does actually prevent a lot of kids from making mistakes like that.

Weed will never be legalized in the U.S. because it cannot be taxed by the government. I agree, it should be legalized though. It's actually less harmful to you then tobacco. All the stuff about "weed killing brain cells" is bull because smoking tobacco actually kills brain cells too and the amount of cigarettes smokers smoke a day kills more brain cells then a joint. You don't see "stoners" out there smoking over 6 joints a day as opposed to smokers and their 6 cigarettes a day and sometimes a whole pack. The only thing in smoking weed that kills brain cells is the carbon dioxide put into your blood from the inhalation of the smoke. It's the same with cigarettes. The studies to "prove" that smoking weed kills brain cells was ridiculous. The specimens (which were monkeys) were put in rooms full of pot smoke for 16 hours a day. If you're in a room full of any kind of smoke for 16 hours a day, you're gonna kill brain cells. Also, parts on the monkeys brains that were said to be "damaged" were actually normal and misinterpreted. The anti-drug ads continue to lie based on these "studies."

But anyway, I digress. Again, I say we do like Germany does with the drinking age.

no, im saying the overuse of alcohol already causes way more than enough problems when the people involved are the legal age...and it would occur more if more people were part of that "legal age" group. more people...more accidents.

^ I'm not sure how you came up with that logic. It's been proven over and over that those types of accidents decrease when the drinking age is lowered.

But, I kinda see where you're going with that one. It all depends on who is receiving it, I guess. Someone mentioned eairlier that Americans would probably be irresponsible. Only time can tell. :)

How exactly has it been proven? I'm not buying this.

I dont buy it either. Sure, if take away the glorification, less people would drink. Thats ONE theory. On the other hand, it could also mean more people would drink and thus leading to more DUIs and fatter people.

^ Yeah, that's almost exactly what I just said in my last post. It could go both ways. Only time can tell.


The United States has the highest drinking age, and yet we still have the biggest problem with alcohol. Every other country has a much lower drinking age and the accidents caused by the consumption of alcohol are much lower then the United States. Like I said, only time can tell. Americans could indeed be irresponsible about it and DUIs and such could increase. But I mean come on, America isn't that irresponsible. Even if it got out of hand, it would only be for a couple of years and I'm sure after that it would fade out.

^ You might be right, but I still doubt it.

yeah

To add to that, in britain, where drinking ages are more liberal, the biggest problem with alcohol is with people age 20-25, NOT teenagers.

drinking makes you fat
didn't know that

I'm in Japan at the moment. If you look old enough to drink, you'll get served alcohol. I have never seen an adult (18+) get carded when asking for a drink at a bar. I see young Japanese locals at the bar all the time, but rarely do you ever see them act like complete jackasses. Actually, I only see Americans acting like jackasses out in town.

The drinking age should be lowered, but this generation won't know how to handle the freedom. The ones to come, on the other hand, will deal with it just fine.

Beer is makes you fat becuase it has alot of carbohydrates (largely sugars and starch) and other nuttritious stuff, thats why the egyptians gave it to the slaves because it was like an entire meal. LINKAGE

And some of you people are accounting that the problem with alcoholisim is due to the drinking age, I largely disagree as problems such as these have a sociological cause.

Here is Australia the largest demographic that abuses alcohol are the indigenous aboriginals who are in more lower classes which subjected to a cycle of poverty, as Aboriginals have concentrated themselves in poverty stricken areas which provide them with little education and health services. Lack of education lead to abuse of alcohol, and so on and so forth.

A reson why France may seem to have a lower amounts of alcohol abuse maybe due to that they dont have such a large class discrimination as America or Australia. Or that you havent done enough research to make such a sweeping state as to say "Countries like France do not have such a big drinking problem like the U.S. because they have no drinking age". France also has a drinking age, its 16.

^well put

If anyone's got any statistics and studies (with proof) to back up their arguments, i'm definately interested in seeing them. For now, I agree that kids are binge drinking because it's illegal and forbidden. Take away the novelty, and it's not such a big deal any more. I think that if you just tax it and make the price higher, it'll restrict drinkers to an older demographic (and rich kids), and take away the 'glamour'

I can't be arsed to read every single post; I'm supposed to be doing an essay, haha - see, responsibility doesn't come with age (I'm 21 this year)

I'm a university student, and in Britain, that's basically code for your stereotypical hedonistic lifestyle of sex, drugs, and well, alcohol. I don't think a single one of my friends isn't a raging alcoholic and we do discuss the legal age for drinking.

We believe that having the limit at 18 means people are inclined to start earlier. People may get hideously drunk upon turning legal in the US but they also start drinking later, if I'm right? 18 may be the legal age at which drinking is permitted but the number of news reports I've seen where the statistics show an increasing number of kids as young as 11 are turning up to school with indecent hangovers (in Britain). Yes this may mean we're more used to drinking by the time we're legal, but it also means the alcohol tolerance level has increased to a level which many would consider dangerous (the more you drink, the more you need to drink to get drunk).

On the other hand, I don't think implementation of the legal drinking limit is as strict here as it is over there and that may be the reason turning 21 is celebrated so outrageously?

I do not believe that we should lower the drinking age. I see the points you have made...and they are good ones, but...

+Most teenagers drink before they turn 21
+By making people aware of how stupid the 21 shots on your 21st birthday is, they might not be so stupid.
+When you turn 18 you immediately feel a sense of freedom already...to add drinking to the list of things you can do might not be so smart.
+If you really want to drink before its legal, trust me...you will find a way.

ok. alcohol is poison. it hurts your body,
and impares your judgement, and can even ruin lives..the list can go on!
what good would letting a younger crowd intoxicate themselves bring?