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Kentucky, Missouri, Minnesota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Vermont are debating legislation or planning ballot initiatives that would lower the drinking age. Proponents of the change have been aided by the argument that it's unfair to consider men and women mature enough to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, but not responsible enough to buy alcohol legally.
Opposition is fierce, with organizations including Mothers Against Drunk Driving lining up to thwart the efforts of groups like Missouri 18 to Drink.
No matter what, the outcome of the clash will be determined over the coming months. Meanwhile, look for the number of college applications to spike in Kentucky, Missouri, Minnesota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Vermont.
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Tuesday 13 May
By who cares
Of course there is not a huge drunk driving problem in England and the rest of Europe...A LOT less people drive.
Friday 02 May
By Spyderbytz
Um... these yahoos yowling that kids who are OLD enough to serve our country are OLD enough to drink, have it all wrong. It is more a matter of someone being MATURE enough to volunteer to serve our country, and consequently, MATURE enough to drink. I do NOT think that all 18 year olds should get a free ride to PartyTown on the tails of 18-21 y.o. military personnel. Show that military ID, and have yourself a beer.
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Friday 02 May
By Heavywall
By all LEGAL standards, at 18 you are an adult and therefore responcible for your actions. If you are arrested for "consumption of alcohol by a minor", are you going to be tried as a minor ? NO. You are responcible in EVERY WAY, as an adult, you should be treated as an adult and held responcible for your actions. There is no room for double standards.
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Friday 02 May
By Catman
Tom...
Nothing wrong with the politicians....theres something wrong with your comment. As much as you hold a grudge toward young people, the age of 18 is considered an adult and should legally be able to drink. Besides, you aren't adding fuel to the fire as most 18 year olds already drink at least to some extent. You make it legal, and you take the "sneaky" factor out of it making it less of a problem. Could you imagine an 18 year old legally married, bringing up a child, father going off to war but he can't have champagne at his wedding?
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Friday 02 May
By Jordan
I am ok with that due to responsibility, I am 26 by the way. If this passes is should be amended requiring anyone under 21(normal visual check) must show MILITARY ID not just a ID card verifing age. With the immaturity levels of some young adults out there yet, just remember this if you are less than 21 and hit me while drunk and I survive, because of my mental anger over your stupidity , I will make every attempt to break every bone in your body and let you lie for death if you hit me while drunk and I am not harmed physically. I dont care about your family if you hit me while drunk and I send you in a coma for 10 months on life support. This issue is 100% PREVENTABLE GROW UP YOU FUCKING TEENS GOD DAMMIT
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Friday 02 May
By Chip
I say drop the drinking age to 16 and raise the driving age to 18. Hopefully most kids will have the binge style drinking out of thier system before they can get behind the wheel of a car. Another option is to allow consuption at age 16 but the purchase age of 18 or 21. This would allow parents to legally buy for thier children. This will allow parents to teach the kids responsible behavior. I have known a few people over the years that allowed thier kids to drink from very early ages. The results I have seen are astounding. Most of the kids have no interest at all in drinking as teenagers. Those that choose to, do it at home in a safe manner instead fof out hiding somewhere they have to drive home from. This would fit closer to the rules in other countries and makes drinking just another source of refreshment, not a glamorous other lifestyle.
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Friday 02 May
By Kathryn
I am a drug and alcohol counselor and witness daily how damaged this generation is by this high drinking age. The psychology of this is so simple, what the hell is the problem? It would be MUCH BETTER to have our young people acquire healthy, moderate drinking skills in public settings in the company of other adults than to go off and drink secretively and binge drink with their own immature peers. This whole generation is going to be unable to drink moderately because the high drinking age has encouraged them to be drawn to binge-like, secretive intake of hard alcohol rather than healthy, moderate social drinking. THE DRINKING AGE NEEDS TO BE LOWERED NATION WIDE TO AT LEAST 18 IF NOT 16-
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Friday 02 May
By steve e
YOU do not want anyone to drink - your problem
Friday 02 May
By jaguignon
The hell with lowering the leagal age of drinking... I agree with the guy that said "let's raise the killing age to 21!" (To go into the military on the active combat front you would have to be 21.) I could not imagine something more fearful than to have a 17 year old drunk teen, trying to back me up in a fire fight just because he wants his rights to be drunk! Make it at least 21 for killing and keep it that way for drinking!
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Friday 02 May
By Ivan
I believe that is it wrong to be old enough to be sent to war, but too young to drink. Lowering the drinking age is the wrong thing to do, the answer is raising the required age to join the military. our young men and women right out of high school and sending them off to war is not right, give them a chance to know their how hearts. I'm sure there will still be plenty of Americans willing to join when they are 21.
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Friday 02 May
By Nancy Hall
Some at 21 are not responsible drinkers, 50 for that matter. I believe if it was indeed changed to 18 it would be out in the open, kids (young adults) at 18 - 19 - 20 do drink anyway legal or not. Bars have to take responsibility to cut them off when enough is enough. At 18 you can do everything else get married, be employed, fight for your country, vote. I think we have to give our young adults some credit that they will make the right choices in whatever they do, and if drinking is one of the choices, let them decide. We want them to be adult in other matters, any court will tell you that as a parent at 18 you have no more say.......
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Friday 02 May
By Terri
Oh please. As if anyone would sign up for the military just to DRINK. Wow... if 18-20 year olds are THAT dumb, there is another good reason not to lower the drinking age.
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Friday 02 May
By m
this is one of the stupidest arguments I've ever heard "If they're old enough to fight in Iraq they're old enough to drink"...
A. drinking is not a right, it's a privilege
B. joining the army is an option not a requirement so you get no special status for having done so...
C. being in the army does not indicate a person has responsibility, ..Abu Ghirab should tell you that...
D. for some, being in the army is a desire to GAIN responsibility and grow up...people drink to AVOID responsibility...for their behavior, their problems, the rights of others, and their inhibitions...
E. lastly, and most profoundly, at 18 people are already engaged in reckless behavior as a means of testing limits...and now people want to help them intensify the recklessness by adding alcohol to the mix? somebody tell me when someone was drunk and was a "responsible enough person to abdicate driving home or being belligerant"????? It NEVER FRICKIN HAPPENS
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Friday 02 May
By Al
No one told these 18 year olds to sign up for the military. AND just because they are in the military does not mean they are "mature".
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Friday 02 May
By Al
Meanwhile, look for the number of college applications to spike in Kentucky, Missouri, Minnesota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Vermont.
AND THE DEATH RATES WILL GO UP TOO!
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Saturday 03 May
By Rick Laird
I am amazed that this arguement is still around. I am proponenet of raising the age of adulthood to twenty years old.
No one would be allowed to join the military or drink alcohol till twenty years old. Also no one could enter in a contract, and millions of 18 and 19 year olds would not be scammed by all the credit card companies. How we can allow a 18 year to be mature enough to enter into a contract with these scoundrels and not be mature enough to drink alcohol is absurb.
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Friday 02 May
By John
Do you really think a drinking age of 21 stops underage drinking? My friends and I were able to obtain alcohol any time we wanted to from the time we were teenagers until we turned 21. If 18 year olds are considered mature enough to vote, enlist, get drafted, smoke, get married, and anything else an 18 year old can legally do then how can you argue they aren't capable of making a decision for themselves where alcohol is concerned? The same people who are opposed to lowering the drinking age to 18 are most likely also opposed to making birth control available to minors as a means of preventing underage sex and we see how well that works...
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Friday 02 May
By Al
To be completely honest, given the number of dui's among teenage drivers, I think the drinking age should be higher, not lower. The legal drinking age ought to be 25 at the least. The same with cigarettes, the legal smoking age ought to be 25, and require proper ID like NJ does in order to purchase tabacco in any form.
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Friday 02 May
By normann
BOrn and raised in Europe I never understood the discrepancy between legal adulthood and drinking age here. It seems to me that it is more responsible that an 18 year old adult can go out and enjoy a drink or two in a public place than drinking themselves silly only in company of other teens.
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Friday 02 May
By realitycheck
Sounds like this argument is driven by a bunch of teenagers, and many of the comments too. Why would someone want to make alcohol more accessible when it's use has one of the biggest negative impacts on our society? Drinking is far out of control in this country, and it's a problem with people of all ages. One revealing statistic is that 75% to 80% of all ER admissions are alcohol related. Lowering the legal age is in no way a solution to this problem. If you think it's not fair for someone to be able to serve in the military at 18, but not be able to legally purchase/consume alcohol until 21, then
why isn't everyone advocating raising the age for military service to 21?!
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