Repeal The Drinking Age

[ImTheCaptain]

Did the writer actually include this statement in the article? Un-fucking-real!


From my observation, pot may be great for jazz musicians and Beat poets, but it saps energy and will-power and can produce physiological feminization in men.

Bert Cooper?

 

[Eagles_Legendz]

Or does the overwhelmingly high level of responsibility shown by current underage drinkers instill that much confidence that it's not an issue?

I am actually pretty indifferent to this issue, but I think this cuts against your point in part. The point of the article is that the reason it's a toxic culture for underage drinking is because of the stigmatization surrounding alcohol in this country, and that if it was responsibly incorporated at a younger age, you wouldn't have as many binge issues.

 

[DCDeac]

It's not gun safety, I'm arguing. 18 year olds are given arms and ordnance, sent into war zones to use their best judgement to defend our country, losing limbs, and when they come back, they can't have a beer.

I mean, I just don't get the comparison. 16-year-olds can operate a giant machine at high speeds that can run people over or crash into other giant machines at high speeds.

I think it's more interesting to look at other countries that have younger drinking ages as a reference. I mean, Germany lets you drink beer at, what, age 16? They have one of the highest alcoholism rates in the world, correct?

I think 19 or 20 might be a better number, but at this point I'm not sure what the main benefit is. Underage drinking is rampant and lightly enforced. Drunk driving has steadily declined for decades.

I just don't see the argument for the benefits outweighing the negatives.

 

[DCDeac]

I am actually pretty indifferent to this issue, but I think this cuts against your point in part. The point of the article is that the reason it's a toxic culture for underage drinking is because of the stigmatization surrounding alcohol in this country, and that if it was responsibly incorporated at a younger age, you wouldn't have as many binge issues.

100% agree. This would probably be the best outcome of lowering the drinking age. It'd take time though. Reminds me of the culture behind owning firearms. The time between changing the law and the culture catching up to it is usually pretty rough.

 

[Buttermaker]

I got busted on campus the weekend before my 21st. I was the only one of legal age that went through my underage drinking class.

Hilarious. I bet you learned your lesson!

 

[DeaconBrews]

OWGs, didn't you still have to be 21 to purchase liquor?

 

[bym051d]

I mean, I just don't get the comparison. 16-year-olds can operate a giant machine at high speeds that can run people over or crash into other giant machines at high speeds.

I think it's more interesting to look at other countries that have younger drinking ages as a reference. I mean, Germany lets you drink beer at, what, age 16? They have one of the highest alcoholism rates in the world, correct?

I think 19 or 20 might be a better number, but at this point I'm not sure what the main benefit is. Underage drinking is rampant and lightly enforced. Drunk driving has steadily declined for decades.

I just don't see the argument for the benefits outweighing the negatives.

I think there's a disconnect with cars too. I'd probably be inclined to say that the driving age, alcohol age, military age, etc. should all converge at 18.

 

[EatLeadCommie]

Didn't click on the article, but did it touch upon the fact that states can still technically set their own drinking ages? The problem, iirc, is that congress effectively strong armed them into setting it at 21 with the threat of highway funds. I think DC and Louisiana may have been the last couple of holdouts for 18 as the drinking age. Or maybe I'm just thinking of DC because my brother was grandfathered in.

 

[TheTwinAndreBen]

Didn't click on the article, but did it touch upon the fact that states can still technically set their own drinking ages? The problem, iirc, is that congress effectively strong armed them into setting it at 21 with the threat of highway funds. I think DC and Louisiana may have been the last couple of holdouts for 18 as the drinking age. Or maybe I'm just thinking of DC because my brother was grandfathered in.

This is correct. Louisiana eventually caved for the federal highway money around 96-97, I believe (there was a prolonged battle in the courts with multiple appeals).

I went to HS in Louisiana. I turned 18 the fall of my senior year of HS, so I could leave school, grab a sixer, come home and stick it in the fridge. I went to LSU college bars my senior year of HS. College chicks, man. It was pretty rad.

I could legally drink at home and then I came to MSD and could not legally drink. I do believe that this helped me avoid the binge drinking culture. I had a decent tolerance and understanding of my tolerance for alcohol before setting foot in college. I definitely avoided the puking all over the place / odonkey passed out scenes that visited my frosh buddies. It seemed to me that the kids that went way too overboard with the sauce (intentionally and most of the time unintentionally) were the kids with the most repressed HS backgrouds. Boarding School kids were the worst.

 

[EatLeadCommie]

This is correct. Louisiana eventually caved for the federal highway money around 96-97, I believe (there was a prolonged battle in the courts with multiple appeals).

I went to HS in Louisiana. I turned 18 the fall of my senior year of HS, so I could leave school, grab a sixer, come home and stick it in the fridge. I went to LSU college bars my senior year of HS. College chicks, man. It was pretty rad.

I could legally drink at home and then I came to MSD and could not legally drink. I do believe that this helped me avoid the binge drinking culture. I had a decent tolerance and understanding of my tolerance for alcohol before setting foot in college. I definitely avoided the puking all over the place / odonkey passed out scenes that visited my frosh buddies. It seemed to me that the kids that went way too overboard with the sauce (intentionally and most of the time unintentionally) were the kids with the most repressed HS backgrouds. Boarding School kids were the worst.

I definitely (for the most part) avoided the puking all over the place part, but not so much the binge drinking element, and I was drinking openly in HS since about the age of 15. The binge drinking element may be more of a cultural thing than individual thing, meaning that somebody like me who did drink with relative regularity in HS still did it simply because everybody else did. At least lowering the drinking age changes the culture factor.

Our parents grew up drinking at 18. The reason why DUI related casualties has declined is due-- I suspect-- more to the social stigma of it than anything else. Back when guys like Dubya Bush and Ted Kennedy were getting DUIs, it didn't mean anything. It was a misdemeanor akin to a speeding ticket. The attitude toward DUIs really changed in the 80s.

 

[EatLeadCommie]

Did the writer actually include this statement in the article? Un-fucking-real!

From my observation, pot may be great for jazz musicians and Beat poets, but it saps energy and will-power and can produce physiological feminization in men.

The writer is Camille Paglia, hardly some bastion of conservative thought, but certainly a thoughtful writer. That pot suppresses testosterone production has long been known. How many stoners have you known who are getting into fights? Maybe she could have phrased it better, but I suspect that she's more masculine than a lot of stoner men out there since she's a fan of munching box.

 

[Palmettodeac]

i really don't care, our alcohol culture is pretty whack anyway but I've always been amused by the "you can join the military but you can't drink!1!!!?!" argument. WGAF? we have an all-volunteer military.

if anything, the voting age should probably be increased to 21

I agree about the voting age.

As for the drinking age military argument, how about this.... If you actually do join the military at 18 or otherwise do something similarly worthwhile to our society, then you can drink. Until then, just shut up and wait until you're 21.

 

[Go]

Take away the mystery of alcohol and the having to sneak around, would solve a lot of problems