Lowering The Drinking Age

[MJS]

http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-drinking0820.artaug20,0,1807550.story

James F. Jones Jr., who is in his fifth year as president of Trinity College, knows he is incurring the wrath of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and probably more than a few parents, by suggesting that the drinking age be lowered. But, frankly, he doesn't really care.

He's that fed up with the consequences of what he calls "the clandestine culture" of underage drinking among college students. It's a culture, Jones and other college administrators say, that has led to some very danger­ous, and often tragic, behavior.

"Who in the world is going to stand up against Mothers Against Drunk Driving? It would be like standing up against motherhood and apple pie," Jones said. "But [the current drinking age] is counterproductive because it simply fosters this counterculture of binge drinking, which is epidemic at colleges."

Jones is one of six college presidents from Con­necticut who have joined the Amethyst Initiative, roughly 100 university administrators calling on lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18.

http://www.courant.com/news/local/columnists/hc-ctstan0820-col,0,5753700.column

The action by the presidents of some of the country's finest universities was a headline writer's dream.

Can't believe no one thought up — "School Prezes Say: More Teen Drinking."

If it's engagement and debate the approximately 100 presidents want about whether the drinking age should be lowered from 21 to 18, then they should pop a cork and have a toast.

As expected, the folks at MADD are, well, mad. Lawmakers can be expected to pontificate. Young people, however, are more divided — and thoughtful — than maybe some would suspect.

Your thoughts?

 

[jarrod]

it's about time.

at 18, you can vote, marry, own firearms (for now), & enlist in the military. you are an adult. drinking is either legal for adults or it isn't. it's unfair to not allow 18 year olds to drink, & it does encourage unhealthing drinking habits.

jf

 

[CaffeineKing]

Am I right that it's 18 - or perhaps earlier in some states? - to drive in the US, and 21 to drink? Being British, I think I'd prefer it the other way around. After all, I'd rather people got sensible about drinking before they started driving.

 

[MJS]

"Honestly, I think it's a bad idea," said Andrew Schwartz, 21, a senior music major at the University of Hartford who was practicing the tuba on campus Monday. "It's not going to change anything except the amount of arrests for underage drinking. When I was a freshman I had no problem finding alcohol. ... I drank a lot as a freshman, and I'm sure if I could have just gone to the store, I would have drank a lot more."

The above was taken from one of the links I posted. I agree with this person....things probably won't change. And yes, I know...if people can go to war, they should be able to vote, drink, etc, etc. Something else caught my eye...

The question of who is mature enough to drink alcohol really comes down to defining a consistent age for adulthood. In America, we've pretty much anointed 18 as that number. As St. Joseph College President Pamela Reid Trotman says 18-year-olds "can serve in the military. They can vote. Some of them are gainfully employed."

So, yeah, let 'em drink. But let's make sure the consequences for driving while intoxicated are severe, as University of Hartford President Walter Harrison notes.

I find the last paragraph interesting. I'm wondering if they're talking more of making sure the law is enforced moreso than it already is or are they talking about making changes to the existing law?

I'm kinda split on this. Part of me says keep it at 21 and the other part says change it, because personally, people are going to do things regardless of the law, and someone who drinks and drives at the age of 40 is no more responsible than someone who's 18. A 40yo isn't showing too much concern for anything if they're drunk, and neither is an 18yo.

 

[jkembry]

I had always thought it odd that the age of majority (18) and the legal drinking age were different.

I do believe that problem drinking...binge drinking and the like...are mainly issues with the attitudes that we are brought up with. I grew up in a family of religious non-drinkers and the minute I could, I rebelled and was a drunk for the next 10 years or so. After visiting overseas (Germany and Europe in particular) in the 1980s and watching how the youngsters there were taught about alcohol (a small beer or wine for the kids at dinner...etc.) I felt the attitude toward alcohol was much healthier. I can't speak for today, but back then, there seemed to be much less issues with teen drinking in Europe.

Maybe these folks are right and attitudes will change...and drinking will be done more responsibly.

 

[JadecloudAlchemist]

I think it should be lowered. In Japan it's 20.

Just about every other country is 18.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_drinking_age

 

[Grenadier]

I have no problems with lowering the drinking age to 18. Back when I was a child, in Ohio, the laws were "18 for beer, 21 for liquor." Alcohol-related crimes weren't really any different than they are these days, from what a few friends still in that town have told me.

The way I see it, if you are an adult at 18, then that's what you are. If I can trust that you are of sufficient age to buy long guns (legally, of course!), then I can trust that you are of sufficient age to buy alcohol.

I'm also in agreement with President Harrison, that those who are arrested for DUI, should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. After all, with privileges, come the burden of responsibility.

 

[Big Don]

I don't really care, but, I wouldn't, I'm 35.

 

[zDom]

What I think makes sense is:

Lower the drinking age to 18

RAISE the age for getting a drivers license to 21 for girls, 25 for boys.

 

[MJS]

RAISE the age for getting a drivers license to 21 for girls, 25 for boys.

Man, imagine if that every happened. They've already made some big changes to the laws regarding new drivers here in CT, and people, kids and parents alike are already moaning, but if the age was ever raised...LOL...the state would never hear the end of it.

IMO though, I do think that the teen driving laws a lax, and I for one, am glad to see the changes that have been made.

 

[CoryKS]

What I think makes sense is:

Lower the drinking age to 18

RAISE the age for getting a drivers license to 21 for girls, 25 for boys.

You are a devious man. I like!

I'm not sure what to think of this, but I'd be willing to implement on a trial basis to see whether alcohol-related accidents/deaths rise. I think the 18 year olds who are going to drink probably are already, but this will affect the ease with which they can procure alcohol and therefore possibly increase the frequency and quantity of their drinking.

Obviously, the statistics will show that alcohol-related crimes decrease as a result of this, since possession will no longer be a crime for that age group.

I wonder how this will affect the under-18 crowd. Would an 18 year old be more willing to buy for younger kids than a 21 year old? A 21 year might rationalize that buying for an 18-20 year old is not that bad because "voting, enlistment, etc.". What age would an 18 year old be willing to buy for?

 

[pete]

prohibition didn't work in the '20s... why expect it to work now.

 

[Andrew Green]

Well it's 18 here, but most of us didn't wait until our 18th birthday to have a drink

I'm pretty sure that I have seen some studies that claimed a higher drinking age lead to more problems, more binge drinking, more alchohol related car accidents, etc.

21 really doesn't make sense to me. If a person can drive, vote, and get shot at for their country they should at least be able to have a beer as well

 

[teekin]

Well it's 18 here, but most of us didn't wait until our 18th birthday to have a drink

I'm pretty sure that I have seen some studies that claimed a higher drinking age lead to more problems, more binge drinking, more alchohol related car accidents, etc.

21 really doesn't make sense to me. If a person can drive, vote, and get shot at for their country they should at least be able to have a beer as well

The part in bold doesn't make sense. Can you find these studies on line? I don't know that I would raise the drinking age but I wouldn't lower it.
Lori

 

[Twin Fist]

if you can join the military, you should damned well be able to buy a drink.

21 is arbitrary, and stupid.

 

[JadeDragon3]

it's about time.

at 18, you can vote, marry, own firearms (for now), & enlist in the military. you are an adult. drinking is either legal for adults or it isn't. it's unfair to not allow 18 year olds to drink, & it does encourage unhealthing drinking habits.
jf

No the age to own firearms is 21 not 18. Maybe to own a rifle but a pistol is 21. Lowering the drinking age to 18 is ridiculous. At 18 a person isn't mature enough to handle it. The only reason that most people here on this thread are saying to lower it is because they are not of legal drinking age. Look at the immature actions of frat guys and sorority girls when they have parties and get drunk. They fight, they drive, and they have sex (usually unprotected). Thats just what we need.

 

[CaffeineKing]

It's 18 in the UK. Almost everything is. Reasoning is that if you're allowed to vote, then you should be able to drink. Thinking about it though, we should probably raise the age you're allowed to vote - then take everything else up with it!

 

[jkembry]

It's 18 in the UK. Almost everything is. Reasoning is that if you're allowed to vote, then you should be able to drink. Thinking about it though, we should probably raise the age you're allowed to vote - then take everything else up with it!

I'm not so sure about raising the age.

<sarcasm>Perhaps it is better to lower the age of everything to...say around 10....then they can make decision before the bias's of society poison their minds. </sarcasm>

 

[JadeDragon3]

I think that the voting age should be raised. Most of the youth that vote don't have a clue of whats going on anyways. They don't vote for someone because of thier issues IMO. They vote based on either age or looks. IMO.

 

[teekin]

I hope this link works. http://www.indiana.edu/~engs/cbook/chap11.html
In any case it is a study showing that that lowering the age that makes it legal to buy alcohol substantially increases motor vehicle accidents involving alcohol, and increase the rate of fatal motor vehicle accidents. There's your reason not to lower the drinking age.
Lori M