Post subject: Should the U.S. Lower the Drinking Age?
Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 1:01 pm
too drunk to moderate properly
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
Quote:
Group Pushes To Lower Legal Drinking Age
POSTED: 9:47 pm EDT August 14, 2007
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A not-so-new debate is brewing once again as a national rights group pushes for a change to the drinking age in several states, including Florida.
While there's no federal drinking age, every state in the U.S. prohibits anyone under 21 to purchase alcohol. However, recently the effort to bring that age down to 18 has been renewed.
The drinking age is always a talker in times of war. During Vietnam, the government changed the legal age to 18, saying young people going off to war should be allowed to have a beer, too.
Now, as the nation is again at war, the drinking age is also on the public menu once again.
Some are calling the fact that men and women under 21 can grab a gun and go to war but cannot drink alcohol a double standard.
"It's definitely unfair. They're putting their life on the line but can't have a beer. It's ridiculous," said James Oswalt, who supports lowering the drinking age.
The National Youth Rights Association is asking people to sign petitions in favor of lowering the drinking age to 18.
Channel 4 talked to the executive director Alex Koroknay-Palicz by phone. He said the movement is nothing new, agreeing that the war in Iraq is bringing the issue back into the spotlight.
"If we decide as a society that at age 18 you are mature enough to go to war, marriage and living on your own, then by virtue of that you are responsible enough to handle a can of beer or glass of wine," said Koroknay-Palicz.
Currently, all states ban the sale of alcohol to minors, but in Florida and other states it's legal for minors to consume alcohol. Sen. Tony Hill called that a loophole and said he would actually like to see a crackdown on underage drinking.
He said the current law is too lenient and makes it too easy for college students to get away with drinking underage.
"It's a serious problem. It's really a serious problem," Hill said.
As the law stands, Hill said police can only arrest someone under 21 if they're caught in the act.
"If I walked in as a law enforcement officer and saw you drinking and you passed the beer to someone else, I couldn't legally arrest you," Hill said.
He worked with a committee last year to put forward a bill that would have made consuming alcohol illegal for minors; however, it was never signed into law.
Hill said that committee plans to bring up the same bill for consideration again this year.
For more information about the move to drop the drinking age, visit YouthRights.org.
On my list of hot topics, whether 18-20 year olds are allowed to drink is pretty fucking far down. I suppose that I think they should be allowed to drink, but I don't much care.
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Post subject: Re: Should the U.S. Lower the Drinking Age?
Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 2:13 pm
Unthought Known
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 2:29 pm Posts: 6217 Location: Evil Bunny Land
B wrote:
Quote:
Group Pushes To Lower Legal Drinking Age
POSTED: 9:47 pm EDT August 14, 2007
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A not-so-new debate is brewing once again as a national rights group pushes for a change to the drinking age in several states, including Florida.
While there's no federal drinking age, every state in the U.S. prohibits anyone under 21 to purchase alcohol. However, recently the effort to bring that age down to 18 has been renewed.
The drinking age is always a talker in times of war. During Vietnam, the government changed the legal age to 18, saying young people going off to war should be allowed to have a beer, too.
Now, as the nation is again at war, the drinking age is also on the public menu once again.
Some are calling the fact that men and women under 21 can grab a gun and go to war but cannot drink alcohol a double standard.
"It's definitely unfair. They're putting their life on the line but can't have a beer. It's ridiculous," said James Oswalt, who supports lowering the drinking age.
The National Youth Rights Association is asking people to sign petitions in favor of lowering the drinking age to 18.
Channel 4 talked to the executive director Alex Koroknay-Palicz by phone. He said the movement is nothing new, agreeing that the war in Iraq is bringing the issue back into the spotlight.
"If we decide as a society that at age 18 you are mature enough to go to war, marriage and living on your own, then by virtue of that you are responsible enough to handle a can of beer or glass of wine," said Koroknay-Palicz.
Currently, all states ban the sale of alcohol to minors, but in Florida and other states it's legal for minors to consume alcohol. Sen. Tony Hill called that a loophole and said he would actually like to see a crackdown on underage drinking.
He said the current law is too lenient and makes it too easy for college students to get away with drinking underage.
"It's a serious problem. It's really a serious problem," Hill said.
As the law stands, Hill said police can only arrest someone under 21 if they're caught in the act.
"If I walked in as a law enforcement officer and saw you drinking and you passed the beer to someone else, I couldn't legally arrest you," Hill said.
He worked with a committee last year to put forward a bill that would have made consuming alcohol illegal for minors; however, it was never signed into law.
Hill said that committee plans to bring up the same bill for consideration again this year.
For more information about the move to drop the drinking age, visit YouthRights.org.
On my list of hot topics, whether 18-20 year olds are allowed to drink is pretty fucking far down. I suppose that I think they should be allowed to drink, but I don't much care.
How about the 18-20 year old in a warzone are allowed to drink as much as they want.
I'm cool with that.
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Post subject: Re: Should the U.S. Lower the Drinking Age?
Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 2:19 pm
Administrator
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:53 pm Posts: 20537 Location: The City Of Trees
Hell yes.
Parents have been put into a false sense of security that the law will prevent kids from drinking--which we all know isn't the case, it just causes them to drink in far more unsafe venues. If we taught what kind of drinking is responsible, then maybe we'd cut down on those problems, eh?
Post subject: Re: Should the U.S. Lower the Drinking Age?
Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 2:19 pm
Needs to start paying for bandwidth
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2005 5:20 am Posts: 31173
In Holland the legal drinking age is 16, so when i moved to the US i couldn't buy any alcohol (legally...) for 2 years. Now going down from 21 to 16 is crazy of course, but i'm definitely for bringing it down to 18/19. Waiting another 2/3 years is sort of brutal to a person in it's late teens.
Post subject: Re: Should the U.S. Lower the Drinking Age?
Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 2:20 pm
Administrator
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:53 pm Posts: 20537 Location: The City Of Trees
conoalias wrote:
In Holland the legal drinking age is 16, so when i moved to the US i couldn't buy any alcohol (legally...) for 2 years. Now going down from 21 to 16 is crazy of course, but i'm definitely for bringing it down to 18/19. Waiting another 2/3 years is sort of brutal to a person in it's late teens.
I'd be curious to hear what affects that age has had in Holland, because it honestly doesn't sound too crazy to me.
I think the legal drinking age should be 19. You need to keep it out of high schools and since there are 18 year olds in high school, I would be in favor of making it 19. Anything older than that is ridiculous.
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Post subject: Re: Should the U.S. Lower the Drinking Age?
Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 3:02 pm
Needs to start paying for bandwidth
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2005 5:20 am Posts: 31173
Green Habit wrote:
conoalias wrote:
In Holland the legal drinking age is 16, so when i moved to the US i couldn't buy any alcohol (legally...) for 2 years. Now going down from 21 to 16 is crazy of course, but i'm definitely for bringing it down to 18/19. Waiting another 2/3 years is sort of brutal to a person in it's late teens.
I'd be curious to hear what affects that age has had in Holland, because it honestly doesn't sound too crazy to me.
Well know personally i don't think so either, but to drop it from 21 to 16 at once is a bit drastic.
There's been some issues with teens regarding violence and disturbance, but i'm not sure if that can be blamed entirely on age since i've also seen people in their 20's and up behave like that. The only kind of weird thing is the dating circuit. since bars have people from age 16-120 you sometimes see the weirdest (ie: creepiest) hook-ups.
Post subject: Re: Should the U.S. Lower the Drinking Age?
Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 3:55 pm
Supersonic
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 2:43 am Posts: 10694
Green Habit wrote:
Clubber wrote:
I think that anybody who joins the military should be allowed to drink no matter what age. everybody else can wait til they're 21.
Though I understand this line, the pacifist in me really hates to tie war to such a privilege.
Because if you're man enough to go to war, you're man enough to have a beer dammit.
I generallly don't have a problem with lowering the age limit to 18. It's not like the law is really stopping anyone anyway. And it's not like it's really enforced either. Lower age limits, but increase penalties for drunk driving.
Post subject: Re: Should the U.S. Lower the Drinking Age?
Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 4:36 pm
Unthought Known
Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2004 3:26 am Posts: 7994 Location: Philadelphia
Lowering the drinking age to 18 is gonna cause a whole lot of problems for bar owners and their staffs. For the most part, 18 year olds cannot handle themselves when they drink. If you lower the age you are going to have more accidents, more fights in the bars, more drunken wreck girls crying and falling down in a heap on the floor. Bad move if they do it.
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Post subject: Re: Should the U.S. Lower the Drinking Age?
Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 4:43 pm
The Maleficent
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 11:17 pm Posts: 13551 Location: is a jerk in wyoming Gender: Female
In NY, while I was growing up the drinking age was 18. They raised it to 19 while I was in high school and then eventually to 21, with the reason given they were trying to cut down the number of teen deaths related to drinking and driving. How about they lower the drinking age and raise the driving age- or put a curfew on younger drivers (which I think they do these days with younger drivers in Massachusetts)..
Post subject: Re: Should the U.S. Lower the Drinking Age?
Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 4:56 pm
Needs to start paying for bandwidth
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2005 5:20 am Posts: 31173
jimmac24 wrote:
For the most part, 18 year olds cannot handle themselves when they drink.
but i think that's only because it's illegal. so they get shitfaced every opportunity they have access to alcohol. Once it's legal, that need is pretty much gone since they know that they can drink whenever they want. It's the same with Marijuana in Holland. the majority of dutch people don't smoke like crazy like everyone thinks.
malice wrote:
In NY, while I was growing up the drinking age was 18. They raised it to 19 while I was in high school and then eventually to 21, with the reason given they were trying to cut down the number of teen deaths related to drinking and driving. How about they lower the drinking age and raise the driving age- or put a curfew on younger drivers (which I think they do these days with younger drivers in Massachusetts)..
yeah 16 year olds driving scare me shitless. i've never gotten used to that.
Post subject: Re: Should the U.S. Lower the Drinking Age?
Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 5:01 pm
Stone's Bitch
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 6:41 am Posts: 5867 Location: Providence, RI Gender: Male
I'm for lowering the drinking age, I'm for personal responsibility, I'm for parents educating their children about the dangers of alcohol instead of simply waiting until they go to college and figuring it out on their own, I understand the argument about the other responsibilities people can take on at the age of 18...
But as B said in the first post, should this really be up there in people's concerns? Everyone has the right to their own beliefs and to choose the causes they support, but I'd become worried if this was the only issue these young people are concerned with. Aren't the rights of the poor, the rights of the disadvantaged, and the rights of people around the world who are oppressed more important than a young adult's right to go to a party and get shitfaced? Like I said, I'm for the lowering of the drinking age, but for some reason this story made me squirm in my seat.
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Post subject: Re: Should the U.S. Lower the Drinking Age?
Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 5:23 pm
Father Bitch
Joined: Fri Oct 22, 2004 12:20 am Posts: 5198 Location: Connecticut Gender: Male
I think it's pretty simple. You're an adult when you reach 18 (legally, anyway), and should have the right to do anything any other adult can do. Isn't that the whole point of being an adult? As far as I know, it's not a transition period.
And like Green Habit stated, the 18-20 year olds are going to drink alcohol anyway. If you make it illegal for them, they're going to do it anyway they can without getting caught -- which means in cars, in the middle of the woods, or any place they can find without adult supervision.
21? That's crazy. 18 here. Doesn't stop anyone getting it though. Drinking ages are stupid. So what, your magically responsible enough to drink the minute you turn 21?
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