Drinking age of 21 saves lives...

[armyowalgreens]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/09/29/nelson.retain.drinking.age/index.html
<snip>

(CNN) -- The national policy that set a minimum legal drinking age of 21 is being questioned by a group of 135 college and university presidents through an effort called the Amethyst Initiative.

In a September 16 commentary on CNN.com, Amethyst Initiative leader John McCardell, a former president of Middlebury College, proposes lowering the drinking age, which he suggests will lead to less drinking and related problems among college students.

History and a comprehensive review of the research tell a much different story. The evidence is clear, consistent and compelling: A drinking age of 21 has led to less drinking, fewer injuries and fewer deaths.

In the 1970s when many states reduced their drinking ages, drinking-related deaths among young people increased. When the drinking age of 21 was restored, deaths declined. This effect is not simply a historical artifact explained by advances in safety technology and other policies.

New Zealand recently lowered the drinking age based on many of the same arguments advanced by the Amethyst Initiative. The result was more alcohol-involved traffic crashes and emergency room visits among 15- to 19-year-olds. New Zealand is now considering raising its drinking age. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that setting the drinking age at 21 saves the lives of 900 young people each year and has saved more than 25,000 lives since 1975...

<snip>

[Traveling_Home]

1. Lower the drinking age to 18; raise the driving age to 25 nt

[Taverner]

23. +1

[Matariki]

38. Lower the drinking age to 12 and get the novelty out of the way

[Dreamer Tatum]

50. BS. People don't need to drink, but they need to work nt

[rd_kent]

2. Either lower the drinking age or raise the age for selective service

[armyowalgreens]

4. I think we should raise the age for selective service.

[rd_kent]

10. We would also need to raise the age of being an "adult" then, as well.

[armyowalgreens]

11. Not necessarily.

[rd_kent]

13. When we define the age of being an "adult" we have to let adults engage in adult behavior.

[armyowalgreens]

14. Who said that going to war defines "adult behavior"?

If I have to wait until 21 to gamble, and I can still be an adult at 18, It shouldn't be a problem to move the selective service age to 21.

[rd_kent]

34. No one but you said that.

Why does an adult need to wait until 21 to gamble? IF we consider someone to be an adult, then we shouldnt restrict what they can and cannot do, unless illegal (and thats another conversation)

[FiveGoodMen]

3. Raise it to 150. Save more lives.

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. Nonsense.

It's not the drinking age - it's the driving age.

Set the drinking age at 16, so kids will come to understand the effects of alcohol with their feet firmly on the ground, and the driving age at 21, so they won't drive drunk.

[LynzM]

6. Exactly.

Makes much more sense this way, but with most places having zero or terrible public transportation... well... good luck. /sigh

[armyowalgreens]

8. Horrible idea. Setting the driving age to 21 would create a damn nightmare...

People are already commuting to school and work by age 18. How do you suppose people like myself will get around?

[RaleighNCDUer]

18. I didn't get my license until I was 24. I managed just fine.

When you need to work it out, you work it out.

[armyowalgreens]

19. That' a nice little muse. But reality is a lot different...

My house is 30 miles from campus. There is no public transportation from my area to campus.

Fortunately, I temporarily live with roommates near campus. But if I lived at home, I would have to commute. And that means I would have to drive.

[RaleighNCDUer]

24. No. It means, you find a place with roommates near campus.

If you can't drive, you don't live outside of pedestrian range.

Simple.

[armyowalgreens]

25. Do you live in a fantasy land or something?

I am fortunate enough to be able to afford the cost of living near campus. Others are not so fortunate.

It is still cheaper to commute. And, in turn, many must do it if they cannot afford any other option.

It's not simple. I know that you think it is simple. But that doesn't mean that it is simple.

[rockymountaindem]

26. Don't you get it? If it works for him, it's universally applicable.

Duh :crazy:

[Gormy Cuss]

46. If the driving age were set at 21, there would be more public transportation.

There'd also be more sensitivity in community design to safe walking and bicyling routes. Years ago someone who lived 30 miles from campus wouldn't commute. They'd live near the college. That would be the case again if students weren't old enough to drive or if the costs of driving were prohibitively expensive.

[krispos42]

7. Except that is probably sets the pattern for a lifetime of binge-drinking,

and throws god knows how many teens in jail for underage drinking. And once you're in jail, you're very likely to go there again and again.

[armyowalgreens]

9. Apparently Europe has a higher rate of binge drinking.

[RaleighNCDUer]

41. The data on that is very suspect.

The only people claiming it are the 'raise the age' crowd, and they all quote the one single source. It is a 'fact' that I never heard before last year.

sounds rather like internet data, to me.

[EFerrari]

12. One of my half brothers was killed in a car crash on his way back from

KC, KS to KC, MO. He was 19 and the friends had gone over the bridge for a few beers where they were "legal".

[krispos42]

20. Jeez, that's terrible.

:hug:



The right path in this discussion is awful hard to find, isn't it?

[EFerrari]

22. It sure is. And the unintended consequences can be pretty bad.

[gatorboy]

15. "lowering the drinking age, which he suggests will lead to less drinking"

Really? How does that work?

[RaleighNCDUer]

21. Simple. If exposed to legal drinking at a younger age, when you

are more under the control of the parents, you learn to control it and learn your limits. If your first legal drinking is once you are out of the house, off to school or living on your own, there are no exterior controls. Lack of controls leads to binge drinking.

Therefore, a lower drinking age - when you are answerable to parental control - leads to less drinking. By the time you are out on your own, you know what your limits are and the penny isn't quite so shiny anymore.

[gatorboy]

27. I could see your point if kids are actually going to drink with their parents.

But where's the fun in that? ;)

[Toucano]

29. That's how it was in my house growing up.

We learned our limit in a safe place to do so.

By the time the frat parties came around, it was already old hat.

[RaleighNCDUer]

47. Exactly. You can only learn your limits by exceeding them, and the

home environment is the place to do that. Far better than learning you've had a few too many hanging out at the lookout with the other kids, and then having to drive home.

That's a problem I've always had with the idea of a 'designated driver'. Having a designated driver is license for the others to all over-indulge. Having a designated driver encourages irresponsibility.

[RaleighNCDUer]

42. They don't necessarily drink with their parents -

as you said, where's the fun in that - but when it's a parent rather than a roommate that finds them puking their guts in the bathroom at 3AM, you get a different dynamic working.

[Mariana]

52. In some states, it's perfectly legal for minors of any age

to drink if they're with their parents or legal guardians.

For example, in Texas:

§ 106.04 – Consumption of Alcohol by a Minor
(a–b) A minor commits an offense if they consume alcohol unless they are in the visible presence of, and have the consent of their adult parent, legal guardian, or spouse.

Or in Massachusetts:

3(A) - Any person without a license to serve alcohol may not serve someone under 21 years of age, unless their relationship is that of parent and child or husband and wife.

Those are just the two states that I've lived in in which it is legal. I'm sure there are more.

[Viking12]

30. look up Dr. Ruth Engs -- she's a leading researcher on adolescent alcohol use

If I had time, I'd do the search myself. She provides a clear and convincing case for lowering the legal age.

[Mojorabbit]

16. I swear there was a study posted here recently

that said the opposite. It was 18 when I was younger. I can't see how it would make a difference one way or another.

[BolivarianHero]

17. Lowering it to 18, would help things where I from...

So many 18-year-olds spend money in Quebec instead of Ontario.
So many 18-year-olds go to Quebec and get themselves in trouble.
So many 18-year-olds go to Quebec and drive home drunk.

The drinking is 19 in Ontario, and it's shit for border areas.

[Arugula Latte]

28. The ridiculously restrictive law just leads to it being a forbidden pleasure and binge drinking.

If people would chill out about it and realize that alcohol is not to be downed by the gallon but is fine when used in moderation and as an accompaniment to dinner we'd be better off.

[Toasterlad]

31. It's Not the Age, It's the Attitude

This country has the same puritanical notions about drinking that it has about sex. The more you treat it as a forbidden, dangerous endeavor, the more children will desire it. If we as a society treated drinking in a grown-up manner, our children would as well.

[depakid]

32. +1

[Kievan Rus]

36. It's the same thing with everything in America it seems; alcohol, drugs, sex, pornography, etc.

Europe has lower drinking ages and they don't have the binge drinking problem America does.

Other Western nations don't treat sex like it's dirty and have fewer teen pregnancies.

Netherlands has legal marijuana and does not have nearly as bad a drug abuse problem as America.

Puritanical attitudes are just a failed experiment by social conservatives. The more social conservatives demonize something, the more forbidden they make it, the worse of a social issue it will become.

[Zywiec]

44. Good post, but it's not just conservatives

as witnessed by this thread. Earlier in the week, a majority at DU thought the age of consent should be 18.

Living in Europe previously, I admire the way they do it.

The young adults seem a lot more responsible than our kids.

[Jakes Progress]

33. Good post to find out how many

[Kievan Rus]

35. Epic fail; DUI is the real problem

Drinking, in and of itself, is not really a public safety issue.

Drinking AND DRIVING is a major public safety issue.

Lower the drinking age to eighteen and make DUI three strikes and you're out...I'm talking lifetime ban. Anybody who drinks and drives a freaking moran. I go out and drink on most weekends, and I always take the bus when I do.

I don't think you can be liberal and pro-21, IMHO. The 21 drinking age is another failed experiment by social conservatives.

[SoCalDem]

37. Determined teens will always find booze..and if they have car keys they will drive

laws make it costly in monetary terms when they get caught, but they will still do it.

[Feron]

39. 18: Old enough for the electric chair or life..

Old enough to kill and die for the government.

Old enough to vote.

Old enough to marry and enter other legal contracts without a guardian.

Old enough to go into debt usually to finance an education.

But not old enough to legally drink a beer. How messed up is that?!

If you want young adults to act adult, then treat them as adults. If an 18 year-old drives drunk or put others in harm's way due to drunkenness, then punish that individual as the adult he or she is.

I'm tired of prohibitionists. Designated driver campaigns are far more effective than a 21 drinking age.

[Odin2005]

40. Sez the guy who got busted drinking underage in the dorms!

:rofl:

[Iggo]

43. So did the 55mph speed limit.

And I assume driving 45 max would save even more lives.

[MajorChode]

45. The question should be, 'what is the cost to civil liberties?'

We could certainly raise the drinking age to 25 or even 55 if we wanted to and we would undoubtedly save more lives. We could raise the driving age to 38 and we'd probably save thousands of lives. If saving lives were our only objective, we could really go ape shit wild with laws that severely restrict civil liberties but do manage to save lives.

[Fading Captain]

48. Making alcochol illegal might save lives

An adult should not be deprived by law of rights enjoyed by other adults.

[KamaAina]

49. Or it might lead to the establishment of organized crime in this country

oh wait, that's exactly what happened during Prohibition.

[NashVegas]

51. Watch The Birdie ....

And try to see how many verifiable studies are named for people to go look up.