I don't drink. I don't smoke. Where is everyone, now? I'm just a normal kid. I don't see anyone in my class or my year that drinks or smokes.

Point being, alcohol impairs senses, while smoking increases them for a while. Yes, they do kill people eventually, and are addictive, which is why the US taxes all purchases. However, it is much more dangerous to drink and drive than smoke and drive, as alcohol is a depressant.

Lol, it's funny how in the US you can legally buy a gun before you can drink alcohol.

Smoking and drinking are now the same in the UK at 18.
It stops nothing.

What i hear most often is that people are sent oversees to fight and die when they are 18 so they should be able to drink.

I, Personally, don't believe an 18 year old should be sent oversees in an army. I myself would raise the legal drinking age to 25, when people seem to be mature enough not to do something stupid.

The only problems: The government does depend on the tax from alcohol and cigarettes.

Most army recruits are young so that they are still fit and won't vegetate from a life of work; good soldiers are trained young. Without an army, the paranoid people will fear foreign invasion.

The government depends on it, so why not lower it? Because it might end up costing them money. Young people tend to be reckless, so putting the bar too low would create more trouble than the taxes are worth.

But then again, you don't magically mature when you turn 18, or 21 or even 25 for that matter.

Gun control is a bit lax in the U.S., true, but that's basically the government's way of saying "Look, we're letting you be free by having guns." Then again, the US has the highest homicide rate per year of any developed country.

If you aren't mature enough to drink responsibly, you're not mature enough to own a lethal weapon. Period.

I think there is a HUGE issue in the USA where kids get this obsession with getting impossibly drunk the moment they turn 21. I think a way to prevent this is to do what most European countries are doing now and serve their child a little bit of alcohol at at time as they grow up to give them an idea of what it's like and to give them stability and kill that obsession.

However; I don't see this happening legally any time soon in the US, but I do believe they should at least lower it to 18. I don't understand how a man can sign his life away and fight in the army, but he's not allowed a 'last drink' for three more years, should he be put in that position.

Some teens are going to do stupid things, no matter what the law is. I mean, if they're willing to sell drugs *at* school, what's to stop them from drinking themselves stupid? At least if the age was lowered, that allure would be gone..it wouldn't be as thrilling if the adults weren't all up in a druther to try and protect their little Buffy or Biff. Teens do things *because* they're told not to. Same reason when I was little I'd touch a hot stove after being told not to. I wanted to see why she told me to not do it. I tell you one thing though, I haven't done that ever again.

And to the one that made the arguement about it being bad to use real experiance to teach something. Sometimes that learned bit of information can be good.

It would also be awesome if they stopped using those stupid drunk driving tapes. You know the ones I talk about. The bad acting, obviously fake ones they use. My friend got to take driver's ed in her school, and they showed *real* footage of what happens after a drunk-driving collisions. Not that many students were overly eager to drive drunk after that.

Underage drinking is gonna happen no matter what the law says. I do agree that it's stupid a teen can go die for his country but can't drink because he's 'too young'. >_> If you're young enough to know how to put together an assault rifle, then dagnammit, you should be able to drink too.

I was raised in a very open family. Sex, drugs, alcohol... nothing went un-discussed in my childhood. If I had a question, my parents explained it to me.

When I was curious about alcohol, my parents told me what it was and what it could do to me if I drank it. Being young, around ten I think, and curious I of course insisted I try some. I tried it and didn't drink again until I was of legal age. Not because I didn't like the taste of it or anything like that. I just didn't see the point. There were tastier beverages to be had that required much less hassle to obtain. Because my parents simply sat me down and talked with me, I never once thought, "Hey, drinking is cool!". It wasn't a forbidden thing. If I had wanted, I could have had a glass of wine every night. Not a big one of course. :P

I think that raising or lowering the Legal drinking age won't really change much. Under aged kids will still think drinking is cool and will do what they need to do it. People will still think driving while under the influence is a good idea. The only difference will be the age ranges involved.

In summary, I don't think the Legal age of drinking should be changed. Instead, I think parents should take responsibility and educate their children on the effects of alcohol instead of simply saying "No, drinking is wrong." Take away the taboo and you take away the cool factor. ;)

After a mishap we had down here in Honduras about, april I think. Right after I lost internet in my room. We had an 18 year old get completely hammered ass drunk. Ended up taking him to someone elses room since he lived on the other end of base and he is a heavier set person. Wasn't going to carry him that far. Anyways, rambling. He ended up puking everywhere. Asked him the next day why he did it. He said "I have never drinkin before specialist [my rank] I didn't know my tolerance."
"Well how much did you drink?"
"A bottle of gin."
"By itself?!"
"No i mixed it with koolaid mix"

After that incident. I am fine with 18 year olds being allowed to drink 6% and less alcohol. Pretty much National and Imported beers. But 21 for liquor. Due to their stupidity. But holding a restriction to a one 12pk box under the age of 18. Now, yes they can go back in to another gas station and buy another box. But at that point its on them. Just like a 21 year old buying 10 bottles of liquor.

I believe that people should start drinking at age 19. Older than 18 but younger than 21... :D

I have mixed emotions about that. In other countries the legal age is quite young (as young as 12) and they don't seem to have a problem. Perhaps if the drinking age was younger, then we wouldn't have so much binge drinking in colleges.

Haha you guys obviously live up north.
Down here in Australia (or as some of you guys call us; the world down under) our legal drinking age is 18.

Beer in Holland is 16, strong alcohol is 18.
It actually works quite well.

The driving age is 18, so most are use to their limit before they start driving. And considering the relaxed and lenient attitude around alcohol here in Holland, it loses quite the luster of drinking it if everyone is doing it. Most people have their first beer at around 12-13 at home with their parents.

By not stressing how terrible it is to drink underage and providing multiple means of transportation, they reduce the amount of drunk driving substantially.

That's 'cause you're a Commonwealth country :-p
I'm in the UK so it's 18.

Holland seems to have the right idea though!
Stronger alcohol for older people.

I think that there should be a single, set age for everything. But, rather than make drinking, smoking, etc... (like gambling, in my state) 18 - I'd rather make them all 21

That way, you've finished school and you've been out in the "real world" for 3 years before you are eligible for everything. This would mean that you would not be recognized as an adult (fully) until the age of 21 and I know it would annoy a lot of people, but I'm speaking from experience - I'll be 31 in October.

But, I'd rather have everything lowered to 18 if we couldn't set it all at 21, because I think its unfair that you can join the military at 18 but not drink.

Research has shown that people (Particularly college students) at the age of 18 drink, the grade levels and attendance heavily suffers, and that a higher drinking age has much more positive affects.
So, from this, I say no, it should stay at 21.
(Though if I had it my way, there would be another prohibition. Xl)

Personally, i think the drinking age should stay where it is. But i can see an argument for the other side.


People who talk about being able to marry or join the army at 18 say that it's only fair to be able to drink too.

no they should not. I, personally, believe that someone at 18 isn't mature enough on average, though there are exceptions, to make lifelong decisions like marriage or joining the army. I support raising the legal marriage age and the age at which you can be deployed to battle. I think anyone under 21 shouldn't be sent to do any actual war stuff, just training, but that is off topic so I'm ending it here.

It will reduce drunk driving because it won't be as 'cool'.

'cool' has nothing to do with it. They will enjoy the buzz of their first drink, and keep doing it. That's why alcohol has been around for so long that's how it works. and again, they will go to bars to drink, and then drive home drunk because they weren't mature enough to find a designated driver, and didn't save the money/common sense to call for a taxi. Okay so maybe 'cool' has a little to do with it. But only to enforce the negative side.

The same reason the seatbelt law should be repealed for anyone over 18. Natural Selection.

The only argument i can see that i cannot counter based on anything that isn't entirely emotional. Usually pity. Social Darwinism, or Natural Selection Is the idea that favors letting the chronically stupid kill themselves off. Many MANY laws are in place to prevent that from happening. But with the population crisis in china, there are people that think that letting people who are dumb enough to get hammered at a bar with no way to get home run the risk of killing themselves would be a benifit to society as a hole.

People who support this often don't think of any argument based on emotion as one worth considering, so i have no way to argue this to them.

I think it should be changed to eighteen, because once you're eighteen (here in America, anyway), you're pretty much entitled to other privileges, like smoking, but for some peculiar reason, only drinking is entitled, legally anyway, to those who are twenty-one and up.

Where I live it's okay to drink light alcoholic drinks (beer, whine, breezers) at the age of 16. However, we cannot get a drivers license at the age of 16.

Strong alcoholic beverages are only given to the ones who are 18.
I personally don't see any problem with it. You are old and wise enough to know what you can and cannot handle.