Do you remember your first taste of alcohol? How old were you? Twenty-one? All 50 states currently demand that their citizens reach age 21 before they can legally drink. But there's a growing movement that says mandatory minimum laws may do more harm than good. When determining the right date when a young person can take one of their final steps towards personal responsibility and freedom, what's the right answer?
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September 11, 2008
Scotland Considers Raising Drinking Age to 21
AFP news service recently reported that Scotland officials are considering increasing the drinking age from 18 to 21, after two trails showed a decrease in alcohol-related incidents among young people as a result of increasing the drinking age. The news comes as the nation discusses the Amethyst Initiative, which seeks to revisit the debate on the legal drinking age and encourages lawmakers to lower it.
Alcohol-related deaths have more than doubled in Scotland in the last 15 years, while 40 percent of 15-year-olds and 15 percent of 13-year-olds surveyed by the government said they had drunk alcohol in the previous week. The announcement was made by Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond, who said the government was considering banning alcohol sales to under-21s to make "the streets safer and communities better" and counter mounting drinking problems.
In the AFP article, Salmond was quoted as saying: "The practical evidence is that restriction, that protection for young people actually helps reduce violent incidents, protects people and makes the streets safer and communities better.”
New Zealand has first-hand experience on the negative effects of lowering the drinking age. In a 2005 New Zealand-based study, researchers found that lowering the drinking age resulted in a 12 percent increase in alcohol-involved crashes among 18- to 19-year-olds and a 14 percent increase among 15- to 17-year-olds. In addition, hospitalization for road traffic crashes among 15- to 17-year-olds went up by 25 percent after the drinking age was lowered.
- Kathy September 11, 2008 4:15PM
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America is Out of Step with Most of the Rest of the World
- From Choose Responsibility
By Choose Responsibility - Balance, Maturity, Common Sense
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What does it matter?
What does it matter if America is out of step with the world? We do give answer to any other country in the world. We only answer to the other citizens in this country. I really do not feel that we should step into line with what other nations are doing. Our laws are our laws. They have been made for a reason. They work here for us. That said, I say, who cares what the rest of the world thinks. Leave it the way it is.
- UltraConservative August 19, 2008 4:19PM
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Why does it matter?
It matters what the rest of the world thinks, if we want the rest of the world to look up at us as leaders in this world, we also have to listen to what they have to say. We don't necessarily have to do it, but we should listen and do our own testing to support or not support it.
The drinking issue is being brought up again because it DOES NOT work for us here.
I'm tired of ignorant christians who try to force their views on everyone else. People deserve the right to make their own decisions, and if we want them to make the right decisions we should be teaching them how to do it responsibly.
- incognitouser
February 22, 2009 6:30PM
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Power should lie on parents, not the government.
We don't have to be in step with the rest of the world. All that's being said here is that we should rely on the parents to teach their children to be responsible drinkers. If the drinking age were lower, this could happen. But, since parents must wait until their kids are in college and, most-likley, away from home, it is impossible to properly teach them responsible drinking habits without breaking the law. Parents shouldn't have to make their children leave home without the proper tools needed to take care of themselves in a place where alcohol is the most available.
- Geekrock
August 19, 2008 5:52PM
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Why
Why is it necessary to teach them to drink responsible? Why not teach them to not drink at all? Isn't that more sensible? Not every one in this world has ever drank and there are a great number of people who view alcohol the same as a loaded gun, I being one of them. It is more than just telling them "Don't Drink". It is teaching them why not to ever start. Alcoholic beverages are a legalized drug the same a cigarettes. Neither of which are necessary at all.
- UltraConservative August 19, 2008 7:39PM
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I agree - to a point.
I agree that alcohol isn't necessary, but it's here, and we have to deal with it. Yeah, we can tell our kids to not drink at all. Then they're going to wonder why everyone is making such a big fuss about it, and drink anyway. How many times have kids done something just because the world is telling them it's wrong? If we lower the drinking age and leave parents responsible, the overwhelming urge to rebel won't be so strong.
- Geekrock
August 19, 2008 11:12PM
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I am not so sure
To an extent that is true. I think it is more than just teaching them not to drink, but teaching them what the end result is. I don't believe a person should tell their children don't do something without teaching them why they should not. Example: We teach our children don't put you hand in the fire. If that is all you tell them, ultimately they will test that and see what happens. Often, even when you teach them if you put your hand in the fire, and then tell them that if you do you will get burned, they will still do it. However, my experience as a Pastor has been that if you begin while they are young teaching them and not sheltering them from things, a larger majority never question and just don't.
- UltraConservative August 21, 2008 8:12AM
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I see your point.
Everyone should be taught "Cause and Effect," especially when dealing with matter such as these. But we should also teach restraint and that it's okay to drink, but not in excess. If kids know what will happen if they go overboard and are taught to control themselves, I'd imagine there will be a lot less problems.
- Geekrock
August 21, 2008 10:54PM
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Problem
The problem is I do not agree that it is ok to drink at any age. I think that Alcoholic beverages are nothing more than a legal drug. Alcohol alters the state of mind of the individual drinking it. Having a Mother who was an alcoholic set in my mind a great deal of what I think of alcohol. Then as a Pastor, and having to deal with it up close and personal when counsiling people who are addicted to it, I would have to say my mind set is to do all I can to prevent its use in the lives of as many as I can.
- UltraConservative September 22, 2008 7:10PM
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I can respect that.
I totally understand and respect what you're doing. I wish you the best of luck in your fight against alcohol.
- Geekrock
October 9, 2008 4:38PM
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I don't agree with the logic here
I do not agree with that logic at all. I believe in teaching children that certain things are wrong and why they are wrong. I believe in instilling in children a set of Moral Standards to live by. I have seen it proven time and time again that it works. Over my 13 years as a Pastor, I have been involved in the lives of 100's of children. How many of them have gone against what they have been taught? Not many. This is proven by the direction they have gone with their lives. I do not believe in giving children enough rope to hang themselves because they will do it every time.
- UltraConservative September 22, 2008 7:04PM
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Whose to judge
I agree that it is the parents' right, as parents, to teach their children values. As a society, however, we've recognized that at some point a person is entitled to their own beliefs and values as long as their actions do not harm others. There are many devices and substances that are not "necessary" to living but that we nonetheless allow people to possess and consume. An iPod, cigarettes, and video games are some examples. Who are we to judge the entertainment habits of an individual who has not harmed us (a possibility of harm does not equate to actual harm)?
- polobo
August 27, 2008 8:58AM
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Alcohol is a reality.
As stated above, alcohol is a reality in the lives of young adults. And as simple as "Just Don't" sounds, temperance and scare tactics just don't work. Similar to preaching abstinence instead of safe sex. It will happen regardless, at least put it in the safest environment possible and teach responsibility to prevent unwanted side effects such as pregnancy and STD's, which were already occurring under abstinence. If anything, holding it over a young individuals head will just fuel their desire to do it.
- mburmei1
August 27, 2008 12:43PM
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Responsible Drinking Has Health Benefits
Teaching responsible drinking would open up access to a number of heart-healthy benefits, reduce their risk of CHD by up to 40%, among other health benefits. Moderate drinkers live longer than abstainers!
- bagpiper2005
September 22, 2008 3:54PM
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Proof?
Where is the proof of this? I am involved with a group can Reformers Unanimous that deals with Alcohol, drug use, additions to sex, etc. and these are some things I have never heard. I would like to see the evidence of this and read it myself. I have personal proof that those statistics would not be true. My grandmother was a moderate drinker and she died of liver failure as a result of her drinking at the age of 55. My Grandfather on my mothers side was a social drinker and died at the age of 58 because of it. My grandmother on my dads side was an abstainer and lived to be 94, and my grandfather lived to be 96.
- UltraConservative September 22, 2008 7:16PM
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You must be Mormon...
...and if you are, I'm terribly sorry you believe that nonsense (I'm a former Mormon), but that's another topic altogether.
Social drinking and moderate drinking are different. Moderate drinking is no more than 2 drinks per day for men under 60, and 1 drink per day for women and men over 60. Moderation was not defined at these levels in earlier times (it is much defined as a much lower quantity now). There are also other factors involved in these things. If Tylenol (acetaminophen) was their primary pain reliever, combining that with alcohol is a deadly combination. Never ever take Tylenol if you drink any amount of alcohol (of course, I don't put any man-made pharmaceutical into my body, but again, that's another topic).
Here are some websites to educate yourself about the health benefits of moderate drinking, and why I drink alcohol as well, because I like it, and because it resolved my hypertension naturally, without drugs. It also helps to minimize the occurrence of my Graves' related symptoms.
http://www.cfah.org/factsoflife/vol8no12.cfm
http://www.jointogether.org/news/research/summaries/2007/kidney-health-benefits-from.html
http://food-facts.suite101.com/article.cfm /health_benefits_of_alcohol
- bagpiper2005
September 22, 2008 7:27PM
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I am sorry
I am sorry you feel it to be nonsense. It is the core of by beliefs as a Pastor and Church Planter. I am not ashamed to say I am a Baptist Pastor. I would not give it up for all the money, fame, fortune, etc. that there is in the world.
To me, this is not a debate of science, but of what is morally right.
- UltraConservative September 22, 2008 8:17PM
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Not Mormon
No, I am not Mormon.
That has nothing to do with this debate.
- UltraConservative September 22, 2008 8:18PM
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Scotland Considers Raising Drinking Age to 21
September 11, 2008
Scotland Considers Raising Drinking Age to 21
AFP news service recently reported that Scotland officials are considering increasing the drinking age from 18 to 21, after two trails showed a decrease in alcohol-related incidents among young people as a result of increasing the drinking age. The news comes as the nation discusses the Amethyst Initiative, which seeks to revisit the debate on the legal drinking age and encourages lawmakers to lower it.
Alcohol-related deaths have more than doubled in Scotland in the last 15 years, while 40 percent of 15-year-olds and 15 percent of 13-year-olds surveyed by the government said they had drunk alcohol in the previous week. The announcement was made by Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond, who said the government was considering banning alcohol sales to under-21s to make "the streets safer and communities better" and counter mounting drinking problems.
In the AFP article, Salmond was quoted as saying: "The practical evidence is that restriction, that protection for young people actually helps reduce violent incidents, protects people and makes the streets safer and communities better.”
New Zealand has first-hand experience on the negative effects of lowering the drinking age. In a 2005 New Zealand-based study, researchers found that lowering the drinking age resulted in a 12 percent increase in alcohol-involved crashes among 18- to 19-year-olds and a 14 percent increase among 15- to 17-year-olds. In addition, hospitalization for road traffic crashes among 15- to 17-year-olds went up by 25 percent after the drinking age was lowered.
- Kathy September 11, 2008 4:14PM
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On the fence
I'm actually on the fence on this issue. On the one hand, I understand and support the "if you're old enough to die for your country, you should be old enough to drink" position. I have actually lived this side of the issue, but I was stationed in places where I was allowed to drink before I was 21. I was able to restrain myself, though, and it never became a problem or issue.
On the other hand, the "America is out of step..." article misses the mark slightly. The problem is that American culture and European culture view alcohol in very different lights, and I don't think it has to do with adulthood. In Europe, alcohol is seen as a compliment to mealtime. It's like bread in America. In America, almost all ads and movies related to alcohol perpetuate the "party" side of it. In my humble opinion, that is the reason there are so many more teens here end up intoxicated when they drink. Until the perception of alcohol changes in this country, I don't think the results will, regardless of the legal drinking age.
- LagerHead
June 16, 2009 3:16PM
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