Drinking age lowered to 18?

[welsh_girl]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

I think they should lower it to 18, it's 18 here.

I think the main people who cause trouble with alcohol like binge drinking and violence are the underagers. If they lower it everyone 18 - 20 wont think it's such an amazing drink to get there hands on and might calm down.

When I was 16 - 17 I used to take full advantage of being able to get into clubs etc. and used to be really bad for drinking alot. Now I'm 18 and can easily walk into any club/pub and can go to any shop I want and buy alcohol the excitment and appeal has really gone down.

[mnnicol]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

18 year drinking age in New Zealand. Going to go drink some more and hit town bye

[customstuff]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

19 here, 18 in some other parts of Canada. I think it should stay at 21 so we can rub it in US's face. I don't plan on drinking too much anyway.

[rzr]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

I wish prohibition went more smoothly...

[Redsky139]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

I apologize if any of this was brought up on page 2. I only read page 1 and 3. I'm lazy.

1) Alcohol is not actually a poison any more than aspirin. It is a foreign substance, which when introduced into the body causes metabolic changes. It could be thus interpreted as medicine and is actually prescribed occasionally for certain reasons (e.g., thinning the blood). Daily consumption of small amounts of alcohol (1 glass of wine or 12 oz of beer for women/2 glasses of wine or 24 oz of beer for men) makes you live significantly longer than people who don't drink at all. This is primarily driven by a protective effect against stroke and heart attack. Of course, these health benefits are completely wiped out if you have 3 or more drinks even once a week.

2) There is about 40 years of very solid research evidence linking alcohol use in 18-20 year olds with fatal drunk driving accidents in America. This is the primary reason why the drinking age is 21 in America. Traffic volume is lesser in Canada, so the danger involved in drinking and driving is less (or at least it's only likely to kill one person). Some 18-20 year olds can drink responsibly, but the body of evidence argues strongly that if 18-20 year olds in the US can legally drink, they will kill a significantly greater number of people while driving than if they must do it illegally. As a matter of fact, this is probably true of 21-24 year olds as well, but the evidence isn't as strong and it becomes even harder to enforce.

3) There is some evidence that alcohol use is supported evolutionarily, i.e., somewhere in the distant past, more individuals who drank alcohol at least some times survived to sexual maturity/were more reproductively successful. It's hard to
argue against evolution, and laws that contradict it tend to fall apart pretty quickly.

[dooty_7]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

Wow I just read 9 pages of this and some interesting points have been raised. Here is a bit of a summary

-regardless of the limit, people underage will drink
-Alcohol should be illegal (won't do a thing)
-Alcohol can be your friend if you are responsible
-The age of responsibility is arbitrary and based on chronological age, not maturity level
-"I can go to war but I can't drink!?!?! WTF!?!"
-Drinking tests (....seriously this was presented as an idea!?)
-airplanes have to be 18 to fly

Anyways I think 21 is a bit high, a more appropriate age would be 18 or 19. At 18/19 you are (hopefully) out of high school and beginning your life on your own whether it be in Post Secondary or In a job or whatever. The point being you are now (at least in the eyes of the law) more responsible for your decisions since you are now an adult. With this growing responsibility comes the options to Go to War, and vote in elections. Therefore, it seems like one should be allowed the responsibility to do what they please to their bodies as long as it is not illegal. Also, the earlier it becomes legalized, the quicker Kids become used to it, and the earlier they learn their limits. Once one's limits are established, they rarely go over it again.

Completely making the consumption of Alcohol illegal would be pointless. Pot is illegal where I am from and in High School it was easier to obtain it then it was to get alcohol. lol. Actually I could get any drug easier pretty much which is a sobering thought!

An alcohol allowance test is also not a good idea. First of all the whole test itself is too subjective. One can argue that a Driving Test can be subjective as well but usually the Instructors are trained on what is and is not acceptable or safe and they judge based on that. A universal drinking test would be too difficult to administer being that everyone's reaction to alcohol is slightly different. Second of all the idea that one would go to a Government Building to get drunk seems hilarious to me.

[Sir_Thomas]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

Sure, people can GO TO FREAKING WAR and KILL a person at the age of 16, but GOD FORBID drinking underage. It's such a stupid law anyways.

Everyone loves to argue this arguement..

The sad fact is, this is a HORRIBLE rebuttal.

The drinking age is 21 because consuming alcohol stunts growth... hence why it was moved from 18 (Because you are still growing at this age..) to 21.

It has nothing to do about having to be 21 because you are more mature, its so you dont end up being 4 foot tall with a microscopic penis. On top of that, youre brain is not fully matured as well.. this means the alcohol will impair your ability to think rationally.

[Myattboy]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

Its always been 18 and its not a bad idea.

Before i was 18 all i wanted to do was drink but once i knew i was legal, couldn't be arsed lol.

Everyone loves to argue this arguement..

The sad fact is, this is a HORRIBLE REBUTAL.


The drinking age is 21 because consuming alcohol stunts growth... hence why it was moved from 18 (Because you are still growing at this age..) to 21.

It has nothing to do about having to be 21 because you are more mature, its so you dont end up being 4 foot tall with a microscopic penis.

So does smoking and thats 16. (18 to buy)

[Shashakiro]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

The drinking age is 21 because consuming alcohol stunts growth... hence why it was moved from 18 (Because you are still growing at this age..) to 21.

It has nothing to do about having to be 21 because you are more mature, its so you dont end up being 4 foot tall with a microscopic penis.

Bull****. Source please.

[s0ulst0n3]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

Everyone loves to argue this arguement..

The sad fact is, this is a HORRIBLE rebuttal.

The drinking age is 21 because consuming alcohol stunts growth... hence why it was moved from 18 (Because you are still growing at this age..) to 21.

It has nothing to do about having to be 21 because you are more mature, its so you dont end up being 4 foot tall with a microscopic penis. On top of that, youre brain is not fully matured as well.. this means the alcohol will impair your ability to think rationally.

Irony, I wrote that post you quoted while I was drunk. :P

[Sir_Thomas]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

Its always been 18 and its not a bad idea.

Before i was 18 all i wanted to do was drink but once i knew i was legal, couldn't be arsed lol.



So does smoking and thats 16. (18 to buy)

Cigarettes do not affect your ability to think straight. Alcohol does.
At 18; youre brain is not fully mature. Besides the fact that you're drinking something that impairs your judgement in the first place; your brain is not fully matured (the frontal cortex is what makes you think before acting on impulses..) making underaged drinkers more likely to commit reckless acts under the influence.

Irony, I wrote that post you quoted while I was drunk. :P

Uhmm... ok?

[Myattboy]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

Cigarettes do not affect your ability to think straight. Alcohol does.
At 18; youre brain is not fully mature. Besides the fact that you're drinking something that impairs your judgement in the first place; your brain is not fully matured (the frontal cortex is what makes you think before acting on impulses..) making underaged drinkers more likely to commit reckless acts under the influence.






Uhmm... ok?

lol. I was referring to "alcohol stunts growth"

[rzr]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

I think it was foil earlier who said wor brain stops developing at 25, which is why he wanted it changed to that. Well, I'm sitting here in driving school right now and they say it's 27.

[Redsky139]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

Actually, recent evidence has contradicted that. Previously neuroscientists thought that you didn't develop any new neurons after about that age (25 or 27 is fine, it was an approximation anyways), but they located a region of the brain in the last 1-2 years that does manufacture new neurons throughout your lifetime. Of course, it doesn't manufacture nearly as many, but it's evidence for continued development - you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Anyways, the number of neurons is pretty irrelevant, it's how they're hooked together that matters.

[rzr]

Re: Drinking age lowered to 18?

Does that subsequently mean that those who propose drinking ages be heightened to when your brain stop developing mean they advocate reviving prohibition?