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According to this study at Potsdam, the US is not among the top 10 alcohol consumers. I believe we have heavy consumption, and a high percentage of alcoholism, but when compared to my observation in some countries, we are light on tap.
Some of our Western and Eastern European friends can belt down 1ltr of Vodka in an evening and consider it nothing.
As for the age of drinking consent, I'm for a uniform age across alcohol, tobacco and military service. I can't imagine how an 18 year old can serve in the army, or navy, and then be told in Massachusetts or wherever his/her base is that they can't have a beer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JustinFromBoise
The US has one of the highest alcoholism rates, as well as the highest drinking age. There are are also more dui deaths here.
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
26,700 posts, read 41,794,567 times
Reputation: 41397
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kuharai
Ok. Since we've been debating rought topics like health care reform, abortion, which ideal sucks more, etc - I thought I'd open up a semi-light topic (I hope) about the drinking age.
Right now, the drinking age in America is 21. Now, I know I'm being biased in this manner. But I think that if you're an adult (18) then the responsibility of alcohol should also be bestowed upon you.
Each day, men and women join the armed forces straight out of high school. These men and women have the full on responsibility of being a soldier. However, no matter how rough of a day it is - they can't even take a shot of Wild Turkey to relax their mind.
Myself: I have a full time job. I have a husband and daughter - a family. We have our own apartment that we furnished for ourselves. We pay all of our own bills - without any sort of parental or government assistance. However, my husband could legally have champagne for New Years. Me, I was completely illegal on it.
Making it illegal to drink while under 21 hasn't helped anybody, has it? People will still have a glass of champagne for New Years (myself) and some will still go to parties with friends and drink underage. For some, it's the thrill of doing something illegal that drives them.
Cigarettes are a lot worse for you than a beer. So why, at 18, can you chose to smoke but not drink?
I understand your frustration. I'm 19 myself and i know of plenty of underage people who drink. Personally, i think the drinking age should be 20. At 18, you are not even out of high school and still wild and crazy. At 20, you have a couple years out in the world beyond the doors of HS and have a slightly better understanding of consequences of certain actions. But, i also think that there should be a blitz on education about excessive drinking. I don't think the simple act of drinking is as bad as the excessive amount of alcohol consumed in some cases. Believe me, i even have a friend who has a picture on myspace of her drinking a Barcardi bottle like bottled water. That extra alcohol kills more people than drinking one or two. I think that should be a bigger concern than the age.
For the record, at 19 i dont drink, smoke, and not currently in the military. I pay all my own bills also and thinking about moving out on my own.
Location: On another site. This one is lame :) Trying to give it a second chance though.
105 posts, read 71,305 times
Reputation: 44
Quote:
Originally Posted by ontheroad
According to this study at Potsdam, the US is not among the top 10 alcohol consumers. I believe we have heavy consumption, and a high percentage of alcoholism, but when compared to my observation in some countries, we are light on tap.
Some of our Western and Eastern European friends can belt down 1ltr of Vodka in an evening and consider it nothing.
As for the age of drinking consent, I'm for a uniform age across alcohol, tobacco and military service. I can't imagine how an 18 year old can serve in the army, or navy, and then be told in Massachusetts or wherever his/her base is that they can't have a beer.
That baffles me to no end as well.
You can die for you country, but if you should live don't think about having a beer when you get back from Iraq, lol.
It's ridiculous.
In fact, those under 21(maybe even under 25) shouldn't even have to pay taxes. They're second class citizens in this country. It's really not fair to be young in the United States. There are so many ageist policies in place it's not even funny.
They can't drink.
Insurance companies can literally rape them on auto insurance.
There parents are no longer obligated to support them after 18.
People deny them housing because of their age.
Their health insurance is ridiculous. They're paying for old people.
They get taxed to death as a single filer.
Police unfairly harass them when driving, or just walking on the street.
The list goes on and on.
Meanwhile if someone so much as bats an eye at someone with gray hair we have lawsuits.
I am so glad I am not between 18 and 25.
Never mind how teenagers are treated. Violations of civil rights are rampant, and it's accepted because the rest of the country thinks "they're just kids"
Last edited by PoliticalGab; 01-02-2008 at 02:10 PM..
Well...one thing that definitely helps to drive our issue with DUI in the US is our car culture. It's extremely difficult for most of us to go to the pub and have a few and then get home without getting into a car, no matter who is driving. A lot of Europeans can pop off of to the pub and then just walk home or take the ample public transit. Therefore, some comparisons between the US and Europe are actually not all that fruitful. Personally, while I also think the discrepency between age of military service to drinking age is a bit ridiculous, I think our culture has a bit of a dictation on that and we may eventually be able to reconcile these but for now, we are probably better off leaving well enough alone.
NHTSA studies showed that there was a 13% decrease in alcohol related fatalities after the drinking age was raised to 21. Most studies analyzing the trends in the 80s when the drinking ages were increased from 18-19-21 show the same statistics.
You demonstrated correlation, but not cause. That is also when programs like M.A.D.D. were created. You cannot conclusively state that the drinking age affected this change. I would argue that education is FAR more important than the drinking age, regardless of sex, race, nationality, or income level.
Drinking and driving shouldn't be part of the equation, although it is. I don't think anyone, regardless of age should drink and drive. When I lived in NM (probably has a high DUI issue), not only day went by without a major fatality, and dozens of folks attending classes to avoid jail.
Common sense can happen at 18 or 21, and can be absent at the ripe old age of 35 or 65.
I believe that active duty military personnel have demonstrated their maturity and have undergone extensive post-secondary school instruction. Consequently, although the military has an alcohol abuse problem, I favor military personnel being able to drink at 18. If you can vote and make life or death decisions about shooting someone, you should be able to drink.
What increased percentage of deaths due to alcohol would be acceptable to you, to justify the change in the drinking age from 21 to 18?
Hey, nice manipulation of stats!
Sure, if you slice 18, 19, and 20 year olds out of a statistical sample, you get a reduction whether its drunk driving or stamp collection. If you add them, you get an increase as you are talking about millions of data units being added to the sample.
You're going have to do a bit better if you want to convince me that its unacceptable for an 18 year old to sit down and enjoy a can of beer.
I drank when I was in high school- most high school kids do. College? I cannot recall a week I did not drink. The minimum age is a joke. DUI is no joke, however. I never drove drunk or drove with anyone who was drunk b/c my parents stressed the danger and offered to drive me if I was driniking.
I believe that active duty military personnel have demonstrated their maturity and have undergone extensive post-secondary school instruction. Consequently, although the military has an alcohol abuse problem, I favor military personnel being able to drink at 18. If you can vote and make life or death decisions about shooting someone, you should be able to drink.
Most of the people who go directly into the military that are not going into the academies have less maturity and judgment than those who go to college (or the academies) in my opinion.
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