Colleges Urge Lowering Drinking Age

[Partial]

Actually it is the 3rd offense. I just looked up the artical in the paper. Someone told me it was the 5th. Regardless, its bs.

[BallHawk]

Yeah, if you start outlawing liquor for the young folks, they'll just break into the garage next door to steal it - and you'll be forced to call 911 and shoot them in the back.

[mraynrand]

The point is to make it so low that people do NOT touch the wheel PERIOD if they are drinking for paranoia.

I never drink for paranoia, but I once ran a 10K for it.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

The point is to make it so low that people do NOT touch the wheel PERIOD if they are drinking for paranoia. If you can't afford a cab, you shouldn't be out drinking. If you can't crash at a buddy or family members house for said get together, then don't drink.

I have no idea what sort of jail time he has spent, but I assure you it was his 5th offense.

Having one drink and getting behind the wheel is no more dangerous than most idiot drivers...fiddling with the radio, eating, disciplining kids, etc.

To link drinking to affording cabs is asinine....to bad your car loving country didnt' want mass transit like our euro weenie friends.

[packers11]

I'm 19. And most of my friends have fakes. Most of the time your hanging out with some older kids too, so there is always alcohol available. The 21 rule is definitely not working...

I think once your out of high-school you should be eligible to buy alcohol.

[packers11]

and people that are wasted and drive are retarded , if they do it at 18, they will do it at 21... You basically spare them 3 years (hopefully) not to completely fuck up...

I say 18/19 (right out of high-school) is perfect... I see so many kids profit off of buying other kids alcohol in college. Also another big industry that is booming is fake ID selling... Those kids roll in some SERIOUS CASH...

[retailguy]

if they do it at 18, they will do it at 21...

Do kids today not mature? Some of the kids I've hired were much different at 21 than they were at 18....

[Tyrone Bigguns]

if they do it at 18, they will do it at 21...

Do kids today not mature? Some of the kids I've hired were much different at 21 than they were at 18....

I think they do as well. We shoudn't drink till at least 40. Must ensure maximum maturity..couple of kids and a mortgage payment will make most mature.

[HarveyWallbangers]

The point is to make it so low that people do NOT touch the wheel PERIOD if they are drinking for paranoia. If you can't afford a cab, you shouldn't be out drinking. If you can't crash at a buddy or family members house for said get together, then don't drink.

Didn't you have a drink and then drove during the PackerRats outing? Or maybe you were riding with the guy that did it? Let's be real here. Most people can drive fine as long as they stay under a beer/hour. (I should say all people that don't suck at driving even without alcohol are fine.) Zero tolerance? Man, some people want to take what little fun I have in my life. I'm really looking forward to the day when I go to the bar on Sunday to watch the Packers, have a couple of beers, and some cop busts me for a DUI (zero tolerance). Staying with a "buddy" isn't quite feasible for most married dudes, and paying $30+ for a cab doesn't sound appealing to me.

[Badgerinmaine]

every day that you keep drinks out of the hands of anyone under 25 is a victory. Keep and enforce the laws.

Why?

Europe has a 16 year old drinking age and they don't have the problems we have.

They also have far better public transit, a less individualistic culture and, in general, make it a lot harder to get drivers' licenses.

Holy non sequitur, Batman!

Hardly! It's the counterargument I raise with my college students all the time when they argue for an 18 year old age. If you're drunk in a place with good public transit, you wobble on to the bus, or subway, or whatever, and go home. You may puke in the morning, but nobody else gets hurt. In most places in the US, that's less likely to happen. Take Maine, where I live. There's no evening public transit within 50 miles of here, other than cabs, and 18 year olds are likely to think they cost too much (plus, smaller cities don't have many; you'll have to phone them). So, people drink, get behind the wheel because they lack other options, and drive into trees. Furthermore, younger drivers don't have their judgment centers in their brains as well developed as older people do, so they take too many chances driving. If it weren't for driving issues, I could see where an 18 year old age makes sense. But in the near future, it's unlikely any of them will be solved. Too many will drive drunk. (Not to mention the increased risk of other problems when drunk that colleges see, but that's a whole other thread).

[Badgerinmaine]

I say 18/19 (right out of high-school) is perfect... I see so many kids profit off of buying other kids alcohol in college. Also another big industry that is booming is fake ID selling... Those kids roll in some SERIOUS CASH...

You're probably right, but then if the age is 18 everywhere, why wouldn't that just push the fake ID selling and profit-taking down to the high school level? You'd have 16 year olds buying fake IDs to buy liquor.

[mraynrand]

if they do it at 18, they will do it at 21...

Do kids today not mature? Some of the kids I've hired were much different at 21 than they were at 18....

I think they do as well. We shoudn't drink till at least 40. Must ensure maximum maturity..couple of kids and a mortgage payment will make most mature.

Don't count on it. It just makes you drink alone in the basement, or at the weekly poker game if the wife lets you off the leash.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

if they do it at 18, they will do it at 21...

Do kids today not mature? Some of the kids I've hired were much different at 21 than they were at 18....

I think they do as well. We shoudn't drink till at least 40. Must ensure maximum maturity..couple of kids and a mortgage payment will make most mature.

Don't count on it. It just makes you drink alone in the basement, or at the weekly poker game if the wife lets you off the leash.

Sounds like it works!!

A wife, kids, and mortgage keeps you off the streets...for any kind of fun.

[Badgerinmaine]

You can't have different laws for different age groups...that is called discrimnation. The only laws like that are juvie vs. adult.

Should we then use your logic...how do we determine an 18 year old is responsible enough to be a cop or in the service.

That depends on how you define laws, but there are all sorts of variations that don't follow 18 or 21 years of age in what is permitted based on age. Take employment: 12 year olds are allowed in many states to work at jobs 11 year olds can't, and 16 year olds are given still more freedom. I recall from my youth that 16 was the legal age for buying airplane glue (I was building a model when I was under 16 and was told I couldn't do it...) You can marry when you are under 18 in most places; say 16 is the line there. Or, take elections: you have to be 25 to run for the US House, 30 for the Senate, and 35 for the presidency. Here in Maine, you have to be 25 just to run for the state Senate. And when it comes to alcohol, there used to be a ludicrous patchwork of laws based on age. Some states said "beer and wine at 18, or 19, yes, but you have to be 21 to buy liquor", or "you can buy 3.2 beer as a 19 year old, but you have to be 21 to buy 'strong beer'".

[Badgerinmaine]

The point is to make it so low that people do NOT touch the wheel PERIOD if they are drinking for paranoia.

I never drink for paranoia, but I once ran a 10K for it.

Still got the t-shirt?