Americans Still Oppose Lowering the Drinking Age

Davey Jones

Davey Jones

Well-known Member
Location
Florida
My question is WHY ?? We have kids today,under 18, having no problems getting a six pack.


Reject lowering age to 18 by 74% to 25%

Thirty years after federal legislation established 21 as a uniform minimum age to drink alcohol in all states, Americans are widely opposed to lowering the legal drinking age to 18. Seventy-four percent say they would oppose such legislation, while 25% would favor it. The level of opposition is similar to what Gallup has measured in the past.
 

I think you would have lower automobile accident rates with the present 21-year limit than with an 18-year one.

Maturity is another consideration - whereas kids were once being kids until only 13 or so, today they stay in Mom's basement and play their video games until at least 25. :rolleyes:
 
I think lowering it to 18 years if fine, may young people will drink at that age whether legal or not, younger in some cases.
 

SeaBreeze said:
I think lowering it to 18 years if fine, may young people will drink at that age whether legal or not, younger in some cases.
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Thinking back to my (illegal) drinking at 18, I must have had a guardian angel hovering over me, because on many occasions I shouldn't have been alive.

... and I was considered to be one of the smart ones ... :rolleyes:

Now I didn't suddenly sprout into a genius when I hit 21, but I like to think I was a bit more conservative in my drinking ... for me, those three extra years were a time to learn just how bad drinking could become.

But to be honest, I don't really care what they do with the drinking age - I'm only interested in marijuana legalization, a far less dangerous hobby. ;)
 
Pappy said:
Never understood this law. These 18 year olds can go to a foreign country and get their arse shot off, come home and vote but can't go to a bar and order a beer.
I can't remember when they changed the law, but in the 50's, we could drink at age 18 in New York State.
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:applause2: ...well said Pappy!
 
In OZ today we have the minimum age of 18 but when I was that age it was 21. Hotels closed at 6 pm and working men got in as many drinks as they could in the hour or so available after knocking off work. Then they were all tipped out on the street in various stages of inebriation to go home to their wives for a meal. This was known as the six o'clock swill.

The legal age of majority was 21 and it was also the voting age. As for military service, in wartime the army would take boys as young as 15 of they were tall enough.

At some stage the legal age of majority was reduced to 18 and the pressure from the hotels for extended trading hours was also on. Closing time became 10 pm. The legal minimum drinking age was also reduced with the same arguments being offered on this forum.

We had big problems with the road toll so random roadside breath testing for alcohol was introduced with a blood alcohol limit of 0.08, which was later reduced to 0.05. This helped enormously in reducing death and trauma on the roads.

A system of graduated driving licences was also introduced and L (learners) had to have zero blood alcohol, P (provisional licences) no more than 0.02 and full licences still 0.05.

Now we have virtually unlimited opening hours for bars, clubs and hotels. Young people load up on spirits from the bottle shops before heading for the night spots where they toss back shots and combine these with various pills. When they hit the streets around 4 am they are completely legless or in the mood for a fight. Public transport is practically non existent and taxis won't have a bar of them because if they spew in the cab, it is off the road until it can be cleaned up.

So they wander the streets, collapsing in the gutters and are carted off to hospital where they clog up the emergency rooms. And that's the girls as well as the boys. Sexual assault in not uncommon.

We've had a number of otherwise fine young men fall victim to the coward single punch from behind, hit the footpath hard with their heads and either die or suffer permanent serious brain damage. Most of these victims are not intoxicated, just out for a night with girlfriend and mates. There are also fights and brawls.

Now research is telling us that the brain is still immature (as in not finished developing) until about 23 years of age. The part of the brain that is not yet finished has something to do will self control and judgement. Doctors are urging that the minimum drinking age be returned to 21 because they are sick of dealing with the weekend carnage in the emergency rooms.

Also, in problem areas licenced venues must now have a lock out period for customers around 2am and last drinks about 3 and close up around 4 am. This really only shifts the problem to a different area because Sydney is awash with drinking spots that go just about 23 hours per day.

Lowering the drinking age to 18 may sound like a good idea but the issue is not as simple as it sounds. They are a lot of other factors that need to be taken into account. The hospitality industry won't be satisfied with this much and will push for more and the road toll will be affected as well.
 
Underage drinking in the U.S. is a problem that a lot of college campuses are facing. It does not matter what my opinion is because if the lobbyists for the brewing companies have their way, we will have the drinking age lowered. So, it is just a case of wait and see and if the drinking age is lowered then we will know for sure if the 18-year olds are able to hold their booze without killing themselves or innocent people.

Personally and unfortunately, I have been associated with many alcoholics that have been to rehabs. Some are successful and some relapse and again pick up the bottle. Our church has an outreach program for all alcoholics in the community to attend. Not only do we offer AA, but also we have roundtable discussions for them to come to and just talk. Some of them will tell their story how they got started and progressed into alcoholism, some will just want to talk about their problems that they are facing today and we have a few that will come and just sit and listen for several meetings until they finally speak up. No one is forced to talk.

I had served on the panel for a few years, but work prevented me from really doing my part on a continuous basis, so I had to leave the program. However, the time that I spent helping others with their problem was well worth the effort that I put forth. BTW, the people that came to our meetings ranged in age from 15 (just one) to 71. At least, 71 is the oldest person that I can remember attending.
 
What is the age of majority in the US, it is 18 in the UK. Technically although children are not permitted to buy alcohol before the age of 18, they can be offered it by parents from the age of five in Britain.
 
Justme said:
What is the age of majority in the US, it is 18 in the UK. Technically although children are not permitted to buy alcohol before the age of 18, they can be offered it by parents from the age of five in Britain.
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I think that most states have the legal drinking age set at 21. When I lived in Ohio and went to college back in the 60's. we were able to buy 3.2 beer at 18 and over.
 
As a teen my associates and I could scam some booze here or there and in the service as a teen it was no problem, but making it legal at 18 might have done me in as I did, and still, love booze. However, I was fortunate enough to be able to switch to moderation at some point...
 
As for illegal/legal drugs,those are easy to get as well there doesn't seem to be any age limit to get a "hit".
Parents today buy this stuff by the gallons/pounds just to keep the kids quiet and happy.
 
Davey Jones said:
As for illegal/legal drugs,those are easy to get as well there doesn't seem to be any age limit to get a "hit".
Parents today buy this stuff by the gallons/pounds just to keep the kids quiet and happy.
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As for drugs, if you want to start a forum on that issue, I have a lot to contribute. I helped at a rehab clinic with, (believe it or not), for "senior" addicts. Most of the people that I helped was caught up on pain killers because of taking them so long for all the broken bones and other ailments that they suffered from. Then, when it was time to get off of them, they couldn't and ended up being addicted.

I took a course at the local college on drug rehabilitation and was a counselor for two years. Again, my job just consumed so much of my time that I had to give it up. I donated my time to the hospital where I was working. They insisted on paying me, but I got it worked out, so they conceded and did not pay me.
 

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