Comments on: Why is the Drinking Age 21?

By: Allison Williams

Allison Williams — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:47:15 +0000

Drinking should be ilegel because, would you want to be drunk and lose your family and friends for the rest of your life? NO, if you had your drivers license and you were drunk you would get in a rek and maybey you would die. I almost died from drinking and driving, and i think that drinking should be ilegal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: abe froman

abe froman — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:27:02 +0000

Wow people let kids (and for a twenty year old I’d use that term loosely) take some personal resposibility and make some decisions for themselves. There is nothing that makes a person irresponsible at 20 and responsible at 21. I remember being at a party and seeing guys 6 months younger than me getting $400 underage drinking tickets. This mommy state is horrible, especially since the federal government has forced it upon the states. Parent your own kids, not the nation!

By: elizabeth

elizabeth — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:28:42 +0000

i use to think the drinking age should be lowered for so many reasons…
if you can have tobacco or get married fight for our country, and blah blah blah….
i soon realized that at 18 nyou are already given a big responsibility to act upon yourself and do what you want to do with your life
when some one drinks and gets behind the wheel their not only killing them self but some one else as well those inocent people have families that have to live with the fact that their mom, or dad, brother or sister, or worse yet their 17 year old who just got thier licened, died bkuz of some irresponsiple person got behind the wheel after having “a couple of cold ones”
point being 18 year olds alredy have to make decisions for themselves if they want to go get lung cancer of lose their life or their money to stuff your aloud to do at 18… give them a chance to respond and mature with that than put someone elses life in thier hands….

soldier for christ
16 and maturing =D

By: al

al — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 05:49:49 +0000

i’m 50 and have drank most of my life. after recieving my 2nd DUI in 20 yrs, i’v e learned one thing. Education is worth more than judging a person’s responsibility based on age. some people are more mature and make better decisions than people 20 yrs. older than me. i do believe that if u r old enough to vote, serve your country, and decide which path in life you want to choose, then you are also old enough to make other decisions in your life in cluding the use of alcohol/drugs.

the important thing that people are missing is, instead of attaching a stigma about it, teach the responsibility that goes along with it.

Don’t operate a motor vehicle after drinking, and if u become an asshole after alcohol consumption, ie… rapist, child abuser, domestic violence… i could go on forever! educate, educate, educate!

I still drink and enjoy it, i don’t drink and drive, and thank god, my personality doesn’t change and I don’t become an asshole. What ever happened to common sense???????????

By: wall-e

wall-e — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 04:15:41 +0000

One must also consider that American’s attitude towards driving is different than that of, say, European countries. Focusing only on drinking and driving, if you consider how typical it is of Americans to own their own car and basically carrying out the most mundane of tasks around town (especially in the southwest), it increases the likely hood of drinking and driving. In Europe, and at least in Germany, where I’ve studied and lived, you’re more likely to rely on public transportation. Or your own two feet. It is far more expensive to fuel and insurance cars there (not to mention how difficult it is to find a parking spot).

If you consider how Germans learn how to drink before they drive, the world, at least for Americans, is turned up side down. If you’re sixteen, you’ve probably had a sip of grandpa’s beer several times, or champagne here and there on occasion. But when you’re sixteen, you’ll go out with friends after dinner for a beer or two and go home, and possibly resume your life with other activities. Thus is the drinking experience of many 16 year olds in Germany. It even becomes more bizarre for Americans when they find out that their parents will just order another beer for their kids when they eat out, or at home at 16. Considering that, two years later, you probably have a good idea of what makes you buzzed and what doesn’t, and hopefully before you’ve started driver’s ed, you’re understanding of you limitations.

Here, on the other hand, we learn how to drive as early as 16, and as skillful as younger drivers are cause many accidents before 25. Five years after you are somewhat confident in your driving abilities, you learn how to drink (legally). What do you do? Have all your friends buy you shots, to start, then you move on to binge drinking, etc. It basically becomes reckless. This lack of responsible drinking is ridiculous because it creates the potential for (younger) over confident drivers to hit the road after not understanding their drinking limitations.

I waited until I was 21 to drink in the States by choice. Had my first drink one month after my 21st B-day because I was going to Germany. I fooled around and learned my limitations, but now I’m past that stage. But I have realized that when Americans want to party, they need to always plan who’s going to be the designated driver, etc. In Europe, unless you were extraordinarily rich and could split gas and parking costs, you all were going to the the subway or bus.

Let’s not forget the fact that in American we have something called \closing hour.\ In contrast to Germany at least, this concept is inviting binge drinking. When I came back to the states, my idea of drinking was to catch the subway or bus to meet friends, drinking until we were content (not necessarily drunk every time), then we would move on, taking our time throughout the night to sober up and go back at it again and go home when we were tired and had a great time. When I came back here I felt I always had to have my fun before 1:30. Since some things don’t get started until 9 at earliest, that leaves, what, 4 to 4 1/2 hours to enjoy yourself.

By: Gary

Gary — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:16:12 +0000

Everyone seems so concerned about 18-20 year-olds in the military because they can “fight for our country but can’t drink a toast to it.”

Great! Leave the drinking age at 21 for all non-military personnel. Lower it to 18 for all members of the armed forces.

Not only would this solve the fighting/toasting dilemna, it might also help military recruitment :-)

By: John

John — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 06:56:58 +0000

The entire premise of a “required drinking age” is quite fallible…

You create this hype about alchohol (much like sex) and it leads to these deaths – simply by imbibing alchohol, in rediculous volumes. (Or by M.V.A.(Motor Vehicle Accident), but the first alchohol-related death I remember, was a college student who drank too much – no vehicle involved.)

Why do we need these laws, again!? Oh, “because it’s safer”…

Well, what’s the ratio of deaths from “over-drinking”/alchohol poisoning added to the current m.v.a. deaths involving alchohol and the deaths cerca the 1984 bill? Is the number of deaths lower, or comparably the same? If they’re comparably the same, perhaps the problem lies elsewhere!?

It’s sad to say, but so many people can see the problem with the system, but too many people hold this heuristic fear of a tragic event… …when all life is ephemeral, anyway.

So, alchohol exists… …but why is it a “problem”, aside from alchoholism!? Do we, as a society, create this hype and problem ourselves?

That’s the question that should be answered, because – as was stated before my post – Europe doesn’t treat this with the puritanical view that America does.

Prove to me that Europe does, and we’ll have a different matter to discuss… …if not, then someone needs to cede (finally) that the problem is domestic.

By: Joe Schmuckatella

Joe Schmuckatella — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:59:53 +0000

My Dad was in 5 major battles in WW II, including Okinawa where the enemy was attacking for 59 days straight. When he got back to the US, he couldn’t get a beer in San Francisco. Stupid.

Used to be 18 in New York. No big deal. Then the omnipotent Feral Gubmint coerced the States with the narcotic called “revenue sharing”, and they fell in line. Wonderful.

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 23:49:32 +0000

Back in the late 60’s and early 70’s I lived on a “blood boarder” between Missouri (21) and Kansas (18 for 3.2% beer only). I also remember many trips to Kansas and some of my trips home to Missouri. I now have a 15 year old daughter that does not have that choice and finds people to buy whatever she wants a the drop of a hat. I would like the opportunity to be able to teach her about responsible drinking from a young age (European approach) rather than hiding the drinking. If you attempt this in the US today, they would rather lock you up and throw away the key. Keeping the drinking age at 21 and ignoring the drinking that goes on despite the law is just putting our heads in the sand.

By: over21

over21 — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:18:13 +0000

Don’t you idiots realize that if they didn’t allow anyone under 21 to fight in the military there would be no wars??? Of course they will let you die for your country. Most people over 30 don’t want it any other way you fools!