[UltraShy]

Please only vote if you are:

1. American AND
2. 21 or older.

Again, I'm sorry for any discrimination due to age or national residence, but it seems necessary given the issue. After all, the issue is rather moot to those in the UK that drink legally at 18 and I believe 19 in Canada. Not sure about those down under, but few nations in the world have a drinking age as high as the US.

I don't want to bias the poll by votes by those who live in the UK & Canada who will, I suspect, think 21 is stupid since they've been able to legally drink for 2 or 3 years by then.

I also don't want to bias the poll by votes from those under 21 since they clearly could be voting out of self-interest. While an old geezer like me obviously is getting all the booze he wants regardless what the age is.

 

[MaidMarian]

I voted not sure. It seems kind of silly to me that at age 18 you can join the military and kill people or be killed yourself, but you can't go to a 7-11 and buy a six-pack. On the other hand, lots of 18-year-olds aren't mature enough to know how to act if they've been drinking. Btw, I live in Canada, but I'm a US citizen.

 

[coldmorning]

I voted not sure, but I tend to lean toward 18.

 

[DeeperUnderstanding]

I think 18 is a good age. 21 is extreme, just like most US laws are.

 

[Adelleda]

I didn't vote but for Australia the legal age is 18. Personally I think 21 is a little high, although usually regulates those few people who are irresponsible when drinking, I think its slightly unfair to responsible drinkers.

 

[Kelly]

There is no "there should be no drinking age requirements at all" option, so I voted "less than 18."

Have a nice day,
Kelly

 

[solasum]

I didn't vote in your poll because I'm not 21, but I'll add my feedback here. I agree with Kelly that there shouldn't be a requirement. And it's not out of self-interest because I don't even like alcohol.

 

[UltraShy]

I personally voted 18, but I wasn't 100% sure either, but thought that the best choice since 18 is what we generally deem adult for almost everything else.

Drinking age policy is an every shifting thing. When my brother who's 20 years older than me came of age the policy was. 18 for beer, but you had to be 21 for hard liquor.

When my late brother who was 12 year older than me came of age Wisconsin had a drinking age of 18.

Later that age went to 19 in Wisconsin.

Then the Regan administration stepped in and told states to raise it to 21 or we take away your highway funds in an act of blatant extortion (so much for states rights that the GOP talks about -- apparently they mean the right of states to do as the Feds say).

That's 4 different definitions of "adult old enough to drink" within 20 years, which should serve to show how very arbitrary it is.

 

[UltraShy]

There is no "there should be no drinking age requirements at all" option, so I voted "less than 18."

Have a nice day,
Kelly

I assume you mean with parental supervision and such, like the kids having wine with dinner? I rather doubt you mean 5th graders picking up case of beer on the way home from school the same as they might buy some candy bars.

Would you care to elaborate, Kelly?

I actually think the idea of kids having wine with the family meal would be a fine idea. It takes away the forbidden fruit effect. Wine isn't so fine when it readily available. Wine is fine when it's a sin. Wasn't it Eve who just had to have the one thing she wasn't supposed to? If somebody said have all the apples you want, lady, she probably wouldn't have wanted even one.

 

[Kelly]

I assume you mean with parental supervision and such, like the kids having wine with dinner? I rather doubt you mean 5th graders picking up case of beer on the way home from school the same as they might buy some candy bars.

Would you care to elaborate, Kelly?

I actually think the idea of kids having wine with the family meal would be a fine idea. It takes away the forbidden fruit effect. Wine isn't so fine when it readily available. Wine is fine when it's a sin. Wasn't it Eve who just had to have the one thing she wasn't supposed to? If somebody said have all the apples you want, lady, she probably wouldn't have wanted even one.

I mean that there should be no drinking ages at all. What else is there to elaborate?

Seriously though, if we were raised in a culture with a more relaxed attitude towards alcohol, then perhaps we wouldn't have the problems we do today. If alcohol was just something normal that kids grew up around, it would lose its forbidden allure.

It's like coffee. Most kids aren't allowed (by their parents) to drink coffee, but a lot of adults drink coffee. So at some point, people must begin drinking coffee. When is that? (I know exactly when it was for me: August, 2008.)

Finally, it looks like we can agree on something.

Have a nice day,
Kelly

 

[Amocholes]

When I was 18 the drinking age was also 18. At 19 I almost died from acute alcohol poisoning.

 

[justpassinby]

I mean that there should be no drinking ages at all. What else is there to elaborate?

Seriously though, if we were raised in a culture with a more relaxed attitude towards alcohol, then perhaps we wouldn't have the problems we do today. If alcohol was just something normal that kids grew up around, it would lose its forbidden allure.

It's like coffee. Most kids aren't allowed (by their parents) to drink coffee, but a lot of adults drink coffee. So at some point, people must begin drinking coffee. When is that? (I know exactly when it was for me: August, 2008.)

Finally, it looks like we can agree on something.

Have a nice day,
Kelly

Brilliant! Just to add to this, dining room tables should just have a crack pipe built right in, you know to take away the mystique. No need to pass it around, just help each other up to the pipe, like a family should. Can't reach it billy?, here's a boost!

 

[Kelly]

Brilliant! Just to add to this, dining room tables should just have a crack pipe built right in, you know to take away the mystique. No need to pass it around, just help each other up to the pipe, like a family should. Can't reach it billy?, here's a boost!

Yeah, because that's the same. :roll

Unless you're arguing for a prohibition on alcohol? We all know how well that works.

(Oh, dear. I've wasted my 6,000 post on this one.) :lol

Have a nice day,
Kelly

 

[Toad Licker]

Brilliant or Brain Dead Policy?

This may be a case where both/either of these choices are the same, brilliant as well as brain dead.

 

[justpassinby]

Yeah, because that's the same. :roll

Unless you're arguing for a prohibition on alcohol? We all know how well that works.

(Oh, dear. I've wasted my 6,000 post on this one.) :lol

Have a nice day,
Kelly

what kid likes the taste of alcohol? What reason would they have to drink it, something with a bitter taste that makes you feel like sh*t after the buzz is gone?

 

[Canadian Brotha]

I didn't vote to keep the poll fairly representative of Americans but I think as a matter of law it should 18 simply because for 90% of other issues 18 is the age of an adult. In the home under parental supervision I don't think it should matter at all

 

[seanybhoy]

18's fine so why change it.

Besides raising the age won't make people stop drinking alcohol for 3 years it'll simply criminalise them.

 

[Kelly]

what kid likes the taste of alcohol? What reason would they have to drink it, something with a bitter taste that makes you feel like sh*t after the buzz is gone?

So if it's something kids wouldn't do anyway, why have a law telling them they can't do it?

Have a nice day,
Kelly

 

[solasum]

Instead of outlawing it, kids should just be educated about it.

 

[shyvr6]

I don't agree with the forbidden allure agruement. Even if alcohol didn't have an age limit and kids drank it, teens would still drink it because it's a social and party drink. Alcohol messes you up, unlike soda, so I think if I were a teen I would choose alcohol instead if I was throwing a party.