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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Taking the assumption that drinking causes harm to persons under 21 (physiological reasons for restrictions fail in that people "age" at different rates so those who may not be impaired may still be prohibited from such actions) does not mean the U.S. must resort to law in order protect persons from self-inflicted harm. Many activities that can/may harm (e.g., smoking) are not banned for adults but instead regulated; making a concerted effort to inform persons but allowing them to make decisions for themselves.
Most of your other "rights" were oriented toward granting children privileges that adults already have. The exceptions to eligibility to run for "(high) public office", when we have made illegal age discrimination in the workplace, seem contradictory. Additionally, the only way to actually serve in office is to be elected so if the majority of the voters do not want a young person in office it will never happen.
- polobo
August 22, 2008 12:49PM
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The "studies" you quote describe damage related to repeated use or misuse of alcohol by young people, and justifies why parents need to educate their kids about alcohol and abstinence or moderation. They can't do that when they are threatened with arrest.
It does not justify government prohibition for a group of young adults. These adults should have the right and responsibility to make this adult decision. If they make the wrong one, just like the rest of us, they will pay the adult price.
- ClearAmerica November 18, 2008 11:40AM
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Adulthood is a very clear concept, “the moment when children legally assume control over their persons, their actions, and their decisions.” Simply because children can acquire certain privileges before they become 18 doesn't change the fact that once you become an adult you should realistically acquire the responsibilities of adulthood.
- mburmei1 December 4, 2008 7:31PM
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The right to drink isn't given to people at age 21 by the politicians they voted against. Liberty is what some call a God-given unalienable right, what others call an inherent natural right, but either way, liberty – the freedom to do whatever does not violate anybody's rights – is a right. The politicians get away with violating this right only because they have legions of gun-toting mercenaries in bulletproof vests to intimidate the citizens into giving up this right.
- TomAlciere February 16, 2009 6:11PM
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The thing is, drink responsibly!!!! 16 or 21, people are all drinking. no stopping it. stop making excuses. each persons life and their road ahead is their business. they make bad decisions, it doesn't mean john smith 2 states over will make the same decision.
- nysfirefight89 February 23, 2009 1:42PM
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What would happen if an 18-year-old arrested for minor consuming ask to be tried as a juvenile? You can't be tried as a juvenile you are an adult! But how can you be tried as an adult for minor consuming? It's an oxymoron.
- mike1948 July 25, 2009 11:51AM
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Your so right. I just don't get it!
- countryboy July 25, 2009 2:45PM
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You are an Adult at 18
- From Choose Responsibility
By Choose Responsibility - Balance, Maturity, Common Sense
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Absurdity
It truly does seem absurt that an adult of 18 who can be drafted into compulsory military service to die for his or her (in the 21st century, who knows if the draft won't apply to females?) country cannot even console himself by sitting down legally with a cold beer or a lively shot of Jaeger. And, as always, the issue of the divorce between law and practice--'de jure' and 'de facto'--comes into play. As a young man myself, I can hardly think of any single individual who has made it to the age of 21 without a substantial drinking history. Why legislate something which is hardly taken seriously by anyone?
- Professor Chris July 11, 2008 5:27PM
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They can die at 18
I agree with Professor Chris. You can't really ask soldiers to die for us and then tell them they cannot have a drink in the United States. Its absurd. As we all know, they are drinking already not that it makes it right. But let's get our head out of the sand!
- slyv
July 12, 2008 9:10AM
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Makes no sense
I do not believe that Age is what makes a person an adult. Neither does their ability to serve in the Military. The law of our country has made it so that our Kids 18-21 can die in the service of our country.
Just because we allow that does not mean we should make it easier for them to kill themselves and others with a loaded bottle of Alcohol.
- UltraConservative August 19, 2008 4:48AM
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Makes complete sense.
There is one problem. They are legal adults, not kids like you assume. And just like smoking a cigarette or joining the military, drinking alcohol is a personal decision that must be made by a legal adult who is fully aware and accepts the consequences of it. 18-20 year olds aren't incapable of drinking responsibly, so we should stop acting like it. As long as we educate them while promoting responsibility and maturity, they should be allowed to possess and consume alcoholic beverages, especially within the home!
- mburmei1
August 20, 2008 7:30PM
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Adulthood?
If age doesn't determine adulthood, what does? Biologically, Humans are adults once they finish puberty ~13-16. Don't complain too much about 18 being too young.
- Nickel
April 29, 2009 4:44PM
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responsibility
I do not believe any of these regulations should be the measure of an adult, least of all drinking age. Drinking, by its very nature, is irresponsible. Yes, I am saying "responsible drinking" is an oxymoron. We drink to leave behind the responsibilities of the work day. We poison our body and alter our judgment.
Lowering the drinking age is slapping a band-aid on the problem so its legal in college, where the law isn't taken serious anyways.
- N Barlow August 19, 2008 4:15PM
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Poison?
Moderate drinking not only offers no real negative side effects but it is extremely good for the heart and is associated with longevity. It's when one drinks in excess that it harms the body and leads to bad decision making.
Refer: http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/alcoholandhealth.html
Not only the above points, but in the safety of the home, perhaps leaving behind the responsibilities of the work day for an hour or two can be a healthy outlet.
- mburmei1
August 27, 2008 1:13PM
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Legally, age matters.
As I've read in several other comments, at 18, you're legally an adult. At that point you can serve in the military, get married, buy a house, etc. So, if you're deemed capable of handling these responsiblities by the federal and state governments, why can't you handle the responsiblity of having a drink or two? Like mmsomekid said above, "People seem to confuse drinking with getting drunk." Allowing parents to teach their kids at an early age and cracking down on drunk drivers would solve a lot of the issue.
- Geekrock
August 19, 2008 11:44PM
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College Presidents Should Work To Keep Students Safe
If supporters of the Amethyst Initiative had bothered to research 'binge drinking' they would have discovered that the UK’s binge drinking problem is greater than the United States’ and the UK’s drinking age is lower. No one in the UK suggests that a lower drinking age, i.e. easier access to alcohol by those who are abusing it, would result in lower abuse rates.
I want to know is why they don’t suggest raising the drinking age to 22 or 23, after most students are out of college? Its not like they're fooling anyone, they just want to hand off the problem to someone else, i.e. High School Principals, rather than deal with the problem themselves.
I strongly encourage you to read and forward the following article to college presidents: http://natchgreyes.blogspot.com/2008/08/american-college-presidents-seek-to.html
- Natch
August 20, 2008 1:46PM
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UK Binge Drinking
If you would do some research, you would find out that they realized that the cause of "binge drinking" in the UK was primarily due to having an laughably early "last call." So people would drink several drinks at the end of the night. Recently they've allowed last call to be later, and have found a decrease in the amount of binge drinking.
- Abigail Adams August 21, 2008 9:22PM
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The police/DA enforce our laws
We do not expect employers to monitor and correct the drinking habits of their employees so why should we expect college presidents, whose major goal is to provide quality educational facilities, to become monitors of their students. Aside from disrupting class (in which case the student can and should be tossed out or suspended) if the student behaves in accordance with all school rules and regulations then from the school's perspective there is nothing that they are compelled to do. The police and district attorneys are given the responsibility to investigate and enforce our laws; and parents are tasked with the responsibility of teaching these laws to their children and helping them to understand the how and why of laws.
- polobo
August 22, 2008 2:32PM
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Bumping the age makes things worse
Not only does bumping the legal age further expand the number of persons being oppressed but for those who do break the law there is no real fall-back aside from the legal system. At least colleges are worried about their students but employers have enough to worry about without taking on the responsibility for the drinking habits of their employees.
Lower the age may indirectly shift the responsibility to High School Principles but it will also push it back onto the parents who are the actual criminals in the equation since it is they who did not instill respect for authority in their now rebellious children. Society's blame in this is that by having a legal drinking age we've delayed the manifestation of symptoms and thus removed parents from being a viable intervention group and instead forced colleges and law enforcement to act.
- polobo
August 22, 2008 2:39PM
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You aren't an adult unless you have adult responsibilities
Adult behavior is not defined by age, it's defined by responsibility. Our education system has created artificial adults by allowing adult freedoms to young people without applying adult consequences. Binge-drinkers in the real world have serious difficulty finding employment or maintaining relationships. These potential consequences outweigh the desire to misuse alcohol; and so, most adult binge-drinkers bear the label "alcoholic."
By contrast, a student faces few real, immediate or comprehensive consequences for binge-drinking. Universities that are serious about the safety of their students should implement no-tolerance policies for binge-drinking and its accompanying behaviors, and stop wasting time lobbying on this issue. This law is not the problem; I doubt that either changing it or allowing it to remain will address binge drinking.
- MHays
August 22, 2008 1:30PM
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The behavior is the key
Public behavior is what is key to your statement, not the cause whether it be binge drinking, drugs or brain damage. If a student is disrupting classes then the college can and should punish the student and remove them from class. This is the responsibility of the professor and should be supported by the president and administration. This is no different than workforce punishment since it is unlikely that a applicant would be asked "are you a binge drinker?" and thus a decision could not be made solely upon an answer to that question.
- polobo
August 27, 2008 8:34AM
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Adult at 18?
Alcohol is a substance that can alter your judgment if consumed. Now let's ponder on that for a second...When teenagers at 18 decide to join the military they are thinking clearly about the consequence of their decisions. I will stress that point again, they are thinking clearly. Alcohol is no different than other drugs that are illegal such as marijuana. We can not trust teenagers from age 18-20 to drink responsibly, especially considering the fact that most of them do not have economic stability. There are so many things that can go wrong when teenagers get drunk such as drunk driving, fights and even rape. The bottom line is we can not lower the drinking age because most of the teenagers drink before the age of 21 and cause problems such as car accidents, so we can not give them further freedom and let them drink before the age of 21.
- Miga August 27, 2008 5:07AM
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Untrustworthy?
You appear to be linking together multiple unrelated items. Why does their "economic instability" affect their ability to be trusted. Why are you lumping together all 18-20 years olds and labeling them untrustworthy to make decisions regarding alcohol but not other decisions? The actions cited are illegal whether drunk or not (driving while impaired) and their is a moral implication to preventing crime at the expense of other's freedom. If alcohol is truly that wrong/bad then prohibit it to all and solve the consequences of such an action (marijuana) or treat it like other limited prohibition drugs (cigarettes) and let adults consume it at their own risk.
- polobo
August 27, 2008 8:28AM
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The Alcohol Issue is a Double-Sided Sword
I remain uncommitted...kind of. In my view, alcohol is a drug, like marijuana. Yet, it is treated differently by society. Because it is treated differently, we have to accept that our young people will drink. No, most are not ready at 17, 18, 19 or 20. I would argue that many who are 21 and over are not ready. Like European countries, we need to teach responsible drinking and take the glamour out of this "prohibited poison". With that in mind, it would make sense to lower the age to 18 and maintain our vigilent enforcement of laws pertaining to how people who drink affect others. Again, my drouthers would be to ban alcohol sales...along with tobacco sales. They have both been proven to be dangerous drugs.
- msreason September 9, 2008 8:08PM
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US-BS
Drinking age should be 18 you can get married have childern,fight in the military ,vote,Why can't you have a beer with your frends.
- countryboy
July 21, 2009 6:55PM
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