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People in their 40s can hardly handle alcohol. And this is coming from a midwest boy who can put some pounders and some jd back. Alcohol brings the duface out in a lot of people. 18 year olds are still babies. Just because you do it before your legal age doesn't mean it should be legal. I rarely use my seatbelt, and it's illegal not to, but I'm not going to try and come up with any legitimate reasons are explainations why it should be OK to not wear a seatbelt...Because there's really no argument as to not wear seatbelts.
The goverment get's that self satisfaction and the citizens get that peace of mind that according to a 'law' that the young men and women of our country abstain from consuming alcohol. But, amongst Americans, it's a social 'norm'. It's really not that taboo for a 19 year old to be drinking alcohol at a party or experimenting with booze. It's not that crazy to see 15 and 16 year olds drinking. So, it's legistlated, and for all the right reasons. Kids are going to do it anyway, so it's not like it's stopping them. If it's the 'drinking in bars' attitude, get over it. About 2 years after turning 21, the bars become a joke. They're only fun really if it's a happy-hour, or friendly get-to-gether to watch a sporting event or celebrate. As young social drinkings, all you can imagine is what you know - Drinking, excessively, TO BECOME DRUNK, and to make weird decisions. I doubt there are handfulls of 16 year olds BS'in in a garage somewhere drinkin' a beer. - 'A' beer. or 2. Or, you don't see 17 year old girls 'meeting up' after work (from TCBY or GAP) and having a few 'cocktails'.
I think 21 is perfect. Go have your goofy fun when you're 15 (16)(17) - 21. Have keggers. Go to parties. Play beer pong. See a few drunken 19 yr old girls with puke in their hair and their booty hangin' out. Puke a few thousand times, and then that stigma of 'being legal' loses all it's luster. For those of you who are 21, I don't know why you even care, and for those of you who aren't, it's not like it's a LONG time before you're 21, or it's heavily enforced to the point where making the decision to do it is a 'big deal'. I don't even get why you want it to be legal. Before I turned 21, I didn't even care. It's not like it was impossible to get. And it's not like I wanted to go be in a bar.
If you're old enough to fight and die for this country (through the draft), then you should be able to enjoy a stiff one. It's a travesty. And in all honesty, these days, there's very little difference between an 18 year old and a 21 year old.
There is no draft. There's plenty of difference between an 18 year old and a 21 year old. Lots of 18 year olds are still in high school. 21s are either in college or workig. Big growup time.
I would have loved it when I was 20 to be able to go to the bar with my older friends. However the government decided that I shouldn't be allowed to socialize and drink with my friends. What is the difference between a 20 year and 21 year old. Absolutely nothing.
It's funny how many underage drinkers still get caught for DUI's. I guess that law worked after all. Instead of allowing young people to drink at age 18 they have turned people between age 18 and 20 into to criminals. Brilliant, lets try to prevent our youth from drinking by making them into criminals. Drinking at a bar is a much more controlled environment than a high school/college party. Bars will cut you off if your beginning to show a sign of being wasted, your young unsupervised friends are a different story.
If 18 is the adult age then you should have access to all adult activities. If you can die for your country at 18 then you should be able to have a drink. Or we could make the official voting/adult age 21.
Prohibition has never once worked and usually works in the opposite manner than it is intended. Funny how drug use has only grown percentage wise among the population since the controlled substance act was put in place. Funny how the Dare generation is the one advocating the legalization of marijuana. Funny how the Netherlands one of the most drug friendly countries on the planet has one the lowest percentage of drug users.
There should be no 'drinking age' it should be the parent's call when the child is under their custody and the person's every time else. The only people who make a bigger deal out of alcohol than Americans are Muslims. In Serbia the official drinking age is 18 but if you have money they'll sell to you whenever (they may cut you off earlier though). In Italy I remember drinking wine in 2nd grade while in school. None of these countries have any noticeable social ills due to drinking compared to America. Any drinking law just feels like a nanny state.
I don't even get why you want it to be legal. Before I turned 21, I didn't even care. It's not like it was impossible to get. And it's not like I wanted to go be in a bar.
Why do you want it to be illegal? What business of yours (or that of the government's) is it what people put in their bodies? Especially adults (18 and over)? If people can't handle and **** up that's their bodies. If they break a law then they get slapped. Gimme your justification for expanding the government's role in being a nanny to her citizens.
Why do you want it to be illegal? What business of yours (or that of the government's) is it what people put in their bodies? Especially adults (18 and over)? If people can't handle and **** up that's their bodies. If they break a law then they get slapped. Gimme your justification for expanding the government's role in being a nanny to her citizens.
Couldn't care less about your or anybody else's body. It's a proven fact that underage drinking causes problems. Whose money do you think is used to police, protect and clean up messes from Underage drinking. It's the Law's responsibility, and quite frankly as a financier of our Government and the justice system, I would rather see an allocation of tax dollars used on something better than that. If there were no age limit, can't you see the messes and problems that there would be? We would need to triple police protection if you had 15 and 16 yr olds runnin' amok after taking 10 shots of some crap vodka in their paren't basement.
That's why. Plus, I want to be part of a society that looks to better themselves, because that is a direct spillover - It's not in my best interest to have it be legal for our up -and-coming future leaders being able to booze themselves retarded.
Couldn't care less about your or anybody else's body. It's a proven fact that underage drinking causes problems. Whose money do you think is used to police, protect and clean up messes from Underage drinking. It's the Law's responsibility, and quite frankly as a financier of our Government and the justice system, I would rather see an allocation of tax dollars used on something better than that. If there were no age limit, can't you see the messes and problems that there would be? We would need to triple police protection if you had 15 and 16 yr olds runnin' amok after taking 10 shots of some crap vodka in their paren't basement.
That's why. Plus, I want to be part of a society that looks to better themselves, because that is a direct spillover - It's not in my best interest to have it be legal for our up -and-coming future leaders being able to booze themselves retarded.
No age limit is a bit extreme but drinking has been around since the beginning of civilization and only in the modern world have humans decided to regulate who and who cant consume alcohol. Drinking has been around longer than our current religions as well. It isn't healthy to drink tons of liqour but guess what young people are going to do it regardless of legality. Kids wouldn't need to hide in their parents basement to drink vodka if it was legal because they could go to a controlled environment like the bars. The drinking age in Germany is 15 and for all the time I spent in Munich and Berlin never once did I see 15 and 16 year old kids causing problems due to drunkenness. It was odd to see high school age kids in bars in Germany, but guess what, they handled themselves well and acted very mature for their age. They weren't boozing up like their American counterpart would.
The reason many 21+ Americans call for the drinking age to be lowered is because a) they grew up in the states during a time when the age limit was 18 and realize that society managed just fine with a lower drinking age b) they have gone to other countries and seen where the drinking age is 18 and even lower in some places and realize that society manages just fine c)they realize that young adults between 18 to 21 drink socially no matter where you are in the world and treating them as criminals is a failed policy.
Prohibition of an in demand substances at all levels is a failed policy. It has never once worked in any country whatsoever. Russia banned vodka, didn't work. Catholic Church tried to ban coffee in the middle ages, didn't work. America banned alcohol during the 30's, and it didn't work. People drink and abuse substances regardless of what the government says. The drinking age in America has proven to be a failure because the youth still have access to alcohol. They will tomorrow and they will 50 years from now. I would rather we have a policy that supports responsible drinking at a young age rather than a policy that fails to admit the realities of humanity.
I'm just curious as to why (And you answered it in your 3 points) it's such a big deal for those who are under 21? Because you could get into trouble? The crime is minimal, often less harsh than a seatbelt ticket (At least here in MN). before I was 21, we partied (Yeah, big time) But I never whined "Wah, I wish this was LEGAL!"... The only hinderance it was was not being able to go into bars. Which wasn't even that big of a deal.
It's illegal to be drunk in public - IF YOU CAUSE THE SCENE. It's very easy to hide being drunk.
Whose money do you think is used to police, protect and clean up messes from Underage drinking. It's the Law's responsibility, and quite frankly as a financier of our Government and the justice system, I would rather see an allocation of tax dollars used on something better than that. If there were no age limit, can't you see the messes and problems that there would be? We would need to triple police protection if you had 15 and 16 yr olds runnin' amok after taking 10 shots of some crap vodka in their paren't basement.
Why would you need to tripe police protection? Are you scared of 15/16 year olds? I remember when I was in Serbia, and at the age of 12 going to cafes and buying drinks as did other Serbians. There was no 'triple police protection' in fact the police presence in Serbia is much smaller than America. If some 15-16 year old starts something he'll probably get his ass beat and won't start something again.
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That's why. Plus, I want to be part of a society that looks to better themselves, because that is a direct spillover - It's not in my best interest to have it be legal for our up -and-coming future leaders being able to booze themselves retarded.
There is something fundamentally wrong with a society that thinks it can legislate what people put in their bodies. A non-free society. I don't do heroin so in a way I don't care if it's illegal or legal but at the same time I don't believe a free society has a right to make heroin illegal. So far you haven't given any justifications related to fundamental rights but rather collectivist utilitarian benefits more along the lines of societies like Stalinist Russia and Hitler's Germany than that of the founding father's America.
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