Poll: Drinking Age.

More true you could not be. I witnessed an impressive amount of stupid behavior (sometimes it was me.....full disclosure and all) while I was in from my colleagues both of age and underage. For the record, I am for 18 across the board, not specifically aimed at military personnel. Vote, buy tobacco, all good but can't drink? Seems to me that some bible belt thinking went on there in deciding that arbitrary age of 21 (bible belt depends on tobacco sales you know....). My initial response (to which I believe you replied) was with regard to the "military = grocery store clerk" equivalency which at best was naïve, at worst just plain inflammatory.

 

That would be an amazing beer name! Also a fun thread to start (great beer name ideas).

 

21. My mom told me a bunch of stories from when it was 18, they were not good stories.

 

I voted 18, but I can see the argument for 19 to keep it out of high schools. The 21 year old drinking age is ******ed, anyone in college can easily get booze, and in general the less responsible you are (read: frat kid), the easier it is for you to get stuff. All the 21 year old drinking age does is prevent unders from drinking good stuff/ drinking in moderation. Whenever I had booze offered to me as an under it was always swill, with the intention of getting fucked up. I never had an interest in getting blackout drunk on bud lights so I never actually drank till 21 when I could pick out my own shit. The drinking age doesn't stop underage people from getting fucked up, it just makes for hefty fake id fines/ license suspensions and prevents people from enjoying a good beer/wine/whisky.

 

As a veteran I'm a firm believer that if you are old enough to fight for your country then you should be able to walk in to a bar and order an adult beverage.

 

I turned 18 in 1983 and it was legal for me to drink then. Because I was not mature enough to handle it, I immediately became an alcoholic and have not driven sober since.

/sarcasm

 

I'm sure reliable statistics were a little more difficult to come by for Disraeli in the 1800's, fortunately we live in the 21st century where they're readily available and pretty damn accurate . My stats are from StatsCan, the federal statistics agency in Canada, a quick google shows the US follows roughly the same patterns.

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/2013001/article/11739-eng.htm

 

I think that 21 is an appropriate age to be legally permitted to purchase alcohol in a bar or grocery store/liquor store, unless the person is serving in the military, then they should be able to legally purchase alcohol in a bar or retail store, as long as they show their military I.d. Maybe also have it that military personnel under the age of 21 can only legally drink and purchase alcohol on post/base, but I'm not sure.

I also believe that it should be legal for parents to serve their own children alcohol after the age of 16, to teach the I children responsible drinking. As it stands now, society keeps alcohol taboo with a "don't touch, don't touch" mentality, while also saying, through advertising that says "hey, alcohol is a party, don't you wish you were at tr party?" "But don't touch, don't touch until you're 21." Then society opens the gates at 21 and says "have at it!" Without any education and or "training." Parents should be able to teach their older teenage children about alcohol and how to enjoy it without abusing it. Parents should be legally allowed to do this without the fear of getting arrested or fined.

I also believe that the driving age should be raised to 18, and that driving schools and tests should adopt much more rigorous standards, as European (at least German) laws insist. 16 is way too young to drive, in my opinion. Especially now that cell phones are so fucking prevalent and, in the case of teenagers, addicting/dependent.

Anyway, that's how'd I run things if I were king.

 

In Germany you can drive a car aged 17 if supervised.

You can't have any alcohol at all and drive before the age of 21.

 

I agree with the sentiment of what @Jeffreysan had to say with regard to drinking AND driving age. To expand, my last bit of wisdom (substitute "wisdom" with appropriate antonym if so moved) on the subject is this; anything done in the shadows usually creates more danger than when done in the daylight. Would you rather have your kid sneak off and down a fifth of Jack with his (or her) idiot friends while doing God knows what, OR would you rather have the right to raise them in an environment tolerant to responsible drinking? A drinking age does not keep those under 21 from drinking any more than gambling laws keep you from filling out a bracket for $5. I said before that 18 was the magic number, but I overlooked the proper administration of parental teaching. I'm not saying that sitting around doing shots of tequila or Jagermeister with the kids is a good idea, but remove the taboo stigma from beer and wine by allowing them to have a sip - drink - glass when appropriate. So what age would I let my son have a beer? I honestly don't know yet, but it should be my thought to ponder and not the government's.

 

*Republican (social libertarian / fiscal conservative) present that wholeheartedly disagrees with 21

I am constantly enraged by the fact that the conservative message has been hijacked by the evangelicals. And drinking is certainly a center stage issue to the Christian right.

 

Wish there was a dislike button. wrong forum for biased political drivel

21 is fine but I would go for 18 for the military with proper ID or on military property

 

As is the one I responded to. (But the sarcasam wasn't obvious enough to leave it in place....)

 

I do believe that 18 year olds that join the military should be able to drink because they are taught discipline and are generally more mature. Just because you're old enough to fight for your country doesn't mean you are doing it. Other than that, I don't see why it needs to be changed. I know we live in a society that requires instant gratification but patience is a virtue.

 

Actually neither. Occasional loser of temper and writer of sarcastic replies that don't make the sarcasm obvious enough...

 

I'm with you on the military they should absolutely be allowed to drink if they serve. As far as maturity many 18 year olds are, most aren't. Same goes for 21, etc... I'm guessing most DUI's are driven by the 18-25 crowd which is an indicator of poor decision making and maturity...

 

I still haven't quite gotten your stance. I don't like Government meddling in choices. I hope that we can change the drinking age to a lower one in the US. However, here is what I see in your stats:

In Canada, where youths are supposedly more responsible while drinking:

20-24 year olds had more than twice as many accidents involving drinking than 35-44 year olds, an age group twice the size by number range and, given that Canada has a pretty stable population and growth, probably about twice the size if not more. This means that they are, just by looking at it quickly, four times as likely to have a drunk-driving accident. I think this is bad enough EVEN THOUGH I SUPPORT LOWERING THE DRINKING AGE FOR ALMOST EVERY OTHER REASON. Please tell me what you mean by "responsibility gap"? The only barrier for me is the idiocy of driving and all the traffic deaths. Your graph only shows steep drop-offs after 20-24, the age group under scrutiny. I chose 20-24 and 35-44 because, for me and those around me, they represent a major portion of people who go out in public to drink, based on my observations. I don't even include propensity to drive no matter what the situation, I am only thinking of those out drinking. I am sure the numbers get much worse. Statistics are statistics, in 1800 and 2015...and yours can prove my point...

 

I vote 18, if you can join the Armed Forces you should be able to drink a beer. I do see a lot of merit in regards to 19 and keeping it out of the high schools. I could see some parties getting out of control with a couple of seniors buying beer for everyone. But I can't get over the old enough to die for your country but not old enough to drink a beer situation.

 

My sarcasm detector hasn't been right all week. I feel like Sheldon from Big Bang. I think we can all agree though that anyone invoking their "beliefs" if for no other reason than they think they are better or smarter than anyone else, are just plain wrong.

 

Yep.

Also the lack in this case wasn't your detector. It was my transmitter when writing a reply to an earlier post where I should have then hit cancel....