Legal drinking age

[Trad Bass]

I think it should be 18. What is your take?

Many under 21 year olds drink anyway. A beer or two won't kill ya.

Trad

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

1. It used to be, then

the number of seriously fatal accidents caused by 18-21 year olds driving drunk in cars skyrocketed, causing massive loss of life and property damage. Too many 18-21 year olds, and other age groups, cannot drink responsibly.

After the age was raised, I believed the accidents went down. A beer or two won't kill you, but a drunk high school kid in a car sure as hell can.

Perhaps we could lower the age to 18, with a mandatory 5 year sentence for driving under the influence?

[Trad Bass]

5. Well we give 18 year olds machine guns in the Army

Why not a beer?

I agree with tough DUI laws

[drdigi420]

2. Alcohol is a dangerous drug

of course it should stay legal. Outlawing ANY drug only makes that drug worse. Look at what outlawing heroin has done: more deaths, more crime, more addicts. Same as when we outlawed alcohol.

As far as the drinking age, how about a competency/maturity test instead of an arbitrary number?

I know plenty of people in their 40s who still arent mature enough to be trusted with a joint, much less a hard drug like alcohol.

[avtho]

3. No but 6 beers will?

Had a client's daughter killed by an executive of a large insurance company . He had 6 beers. Drove through a stop sign.

Maybe about 105 would be the correct age to drink.

[Skinner]

4. I'm locking this thread.

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Skinner
DU Admin

[Loonman]

6. You get into the "mental maturity" debate with that

I know 18 year olds who are very intelligent and articulate, and I also know 30 year olds who shouldn't cross the street.

[whoYaCallinAlib]

7. You will never hear a presidential candidate support lowering the

drinking age. It's been done before with extremely horrific consequences. Too many alcohol related fatalities caused by drinking 18-20 year olds behind the wheel.