Drinking Age in the USA

[Morris Minor]

Interested to hear from LEOs on this.

National Minimum Drinking Age Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Minimum_Drinking_Age_Act_of_1984

[Submariner]

LOL - yeah, it's been real difficult for college students to get their hands on and consume alcohol. 

[SVT_Power]

It stopped me from going out when I was in NJ visiting family a while ago 

[Tave]

I think the drinking age should probably be 19.

[Eye of the Tiger]

18 is supposed to be the age when a person becomes an independent adult. Everything should be legal by that point, (if not before, with restrictions or parental guidance)

[dazzleman]

I favor an 18-year old drinking age.

[The Pirate]

I favor an 18-year old drinking age.

+1

I think a big part of underage drinking for most people is the forbidden fruit aspect of it.  Also, if you can joined the armed services and serve your country at age 18, then you should be able to buy a beer.

[Colonel Cadillac]

+1

I think a big part of underage drinking for most people is the forbidden fruit aspect of it.  Also, if you can joined the armed services and serve your country at age 18, then you should be able to buy a beer.

Bingo. My country expected me to be ready to serve in the military and be mature enough to understand the concepts of war and inflicting casualties provided something really bad happened (WW3), yet didn't believe I was capable of making decisions regarding my intake of alcohol. It's unbelievable.

What they need to do is stagger bringing the age down. Write a bill that changes the law by 1 year of age every 2 years or so (so that the gap years don't go insane) and bring it down to 18 or 19. I'd be okay with 19 if they changed the military age to 19 as well. The idea behind 19 being good is there are many fewer high schoolers who are 19.

If the age were 18, I wouldn't have thrown a few hundred dollars towards fake IDs.

I also voted for national minimum drinking age to 18 because I know various states would be stuck up (like Connecticut) and keep it 21. Louisiana on the other hand...

[TurboDan]

I don't see a problem with an 18-year old drinking age. The problem is that it would never have political support with all of the parents groups and MADD people screaming and yelling. I think it would really benefit colleges since it would cut down on binge drinking and there would be fewer medical emergencies.

I doubt it would really affect drunk driving much at all. When the newspaper prints DUI arrests, it actually seems that there is a high number of "underage" DUIs in the 18-20 age bracket, so it's clear the current alcohol laws are neither preventing nor deterring driving while intoxicated. Promoting safe drinking (have fun, but don't kill yourself, and don't drive) seems like it would be a better path than just banning drinking and creating a "black market" and all kinds of hoops that lead to binge drinking.

[dazzleman]

[Tave]

I don't see a problem with an 18-year old drinking age. The problem is that it would never have political support with all of the parents groups and MADD people screaming and yelling. I think it would really benefit colleges since it would cut down on binge drinking and there would be fewer medical emergencies.

I doubt it would really affect drunk driving much at all. When the newspaper prints DUI arrests, it actually seems that there is a high number of "underage" DUIs in the 18-20 age bracket, so it's clear the current alcohol laws are neither preventing nor deterring driving while intoxicated. Promoting safe drinking (have fun, but don't kill yourself, and don't drive) seems like it would be a better path than just banning drinking and creating a "black market" and all kinds of hoops that lead to binge drinking.

Additionally, a lot of jurisdictions have a zero-tolerance policy where anyone under the age of 21 will be cited for DUI regardless of impairment. Not that it excuses the behavior, but I had a friend who got a DUI after drinking a single beer when he was 19 or 20. He wasn't exactly causing the type of harm that DUI laws seek to prevent.

[ifcar]

Wasn't the law changed so high school seniors wouldn't be able to easily supply their younger friends with alcohol? Sure, college students all ignore the law and everyone nearby looks the other way (apparently the fake ID of choice here at UMD is a library card with a photocopy of a license taped to the top), but it's a higher age bracket that's more affected.

Now, if it were changed to 18 and then strictly enforced, that would work fine. But otherwise it would just move the current problem down a few years.

[TBR]

+1

I think a big part of underage drinking for most people is the forbidden fruit aspect of it.  Also, if you can joined the armed services and serve your country at age 18, then you should be able to buy a beer.

Binge drinking would definitely drop off I think.

[TBR]

Wasn't the law changed so high school seniors wouldn't be able to easily supply their younger friends with alcohol? Sure, college students all ignore the law and everyone nearby looks the other way (apparently the fake ID of choice here at UMD is a library card with a photocopy of a license taped to the top), but it's a higher age bracket that's more affected.

Now, if it were changed to 18 and then strictly enforced, that would work fine. But otherwise it would just move the current problem down a few years.

I think that's why 19 is a good idea.

[Eye of the Tiger]

I think that's why 19 is a good idea.

Maybe we shouldn't have dumb kids that have to stay in high school after they're 18.

[dazzleman]

I don't think it makes sense that a person can enter into legal agreements, vote, serve in the armed forced and get married at 18, but can't have a legal drink.

This is part of a trend of postponing full adulthood.  We've become such a risk-averse society that we keep pushing back the milestones of true adulthood, thinking people will be able to handle them when they're older.  But there's a price to be paid for extending adolescence.

[ifcar]

I think that's why 19 is a good idea.

I can't imagine that would fly politically. It's a prime number, for crying out loud!

Also, college freshmen seem to be among the biggest idiot partiers, according to my sources in the freshman community. 19 wouldn't help them.

[Eye of the Tiger]

I can't imagine that would fly politically. It's a prime number, for crying out loud!

Also, college freshmen seem to be among the biggest idiot partiers -- 19 wouldn't help them.

The ones who want to drink, do so, anyway. Making it legal would only take away the "thrill" of illegality, and probably lead to more responsible drinking.

[ifcar]

The ones who want to drink, do so, anyway. Making it legal would only take away the "thrill" of illegality, and probably lead to more responsible drinking.

I haven't heard anyone say they like that it's illegal. It's an inconvenience to run the risk of getting in trouble for something that you intend to do anyway. It's the same way that people don't get a thrill out of driving 35 in a 25 -- at least, I don't.

[Eye of the Tiger]

I haven't heard anyone say they like that it's illegal. It's an inconvenience to run the risk of getting in trouble for something that you intend to do anyway. It's the same way that people don't get a thrill out of driving 35 in a 25 -- at least, I don't.

You are the most boring person alive; nobody expects you to understand.

[ifcar]

You are the most boring person alive; nobody expects you to understand.

I'm in daily contact with underage drinkers. The illegality doesn't seem to be the appeal to them.

[Eye of the Tiger]

I'm in daily contact with underage drinkers. The illegality doesn't seem to be the appeal to them.

Right. So, you agree they drink, regardless of the law.

[ifcar]

Right. So, you agree they drink, regardless of the law.

Absolutely. But not because it's illegal. Again, like 35 in a 25, the illegality is not the reason behind it.

[3.0L V6]

Why does the federal government regulate this anyway? Shouldn't this be a state issue - or is it like the 55 mph speed limit and federal minimum wage laws?

In Canada, the provinces are left to regulate their own drinking age - I don't understand the difference down there.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Absolutely. But not because it's illegal. Again, like 35 in a 25, the illegality is not the reason behind it.

You are completely clueless.

[dazzleman]

Technically it's a state issue.  At one time, different states had different drinking ages.  But the federal government threatened to withhold highway funds from any state that didn't raise the drinking age to 21, in the name of highway safety.

[3.0L V6]

Technically it's a state issue.  At one time, different states had different drinking ages.  But the federal government threatened to withhold highway funds from any state that didn't raise the drinking age to 21, in the name of highway safety.

Well, there's the federal government sticking its nose where it doesn't belong - again. Let the states decide.

I'm in favor of pushing responsibility of lawmaking to lowest level of government when reasonably practical to do so. This stuff annoys me - the federal government has plenty of large issues to deal with - why do they feel the need to 'find' stuff to regulate/get involved in?

Smaller/more local governments more accurately reflect the will of the population in an area - making national laws requires such consensus building and compromise.

[Raza]

There should be no minimum drinking age, period.

[MaxPower]

Additionally, a lot of jurisdictions have a zero-tolerance policy where anyone under the age of 21 will be cited for DUI regardless of impairment. Not that it excuses the behavior, but I had a friend who got a DUI after drinking a single beer when he was 19 or 20. He wasn't exactly causing the type of harm that DUI laws seek to prevent.

That may be in some places, but I know here it's a violation of license restriction, not DUI.  DUI is reserved for .08+.  The penalties are much more lenient for VLR and its an entirely different crime.

[Tave]

That may be in some places, but I know here it's a violation of license restriction, not DUI.  DUI is reserved for .08+.  The penalties are much more lenient for VLR and its an entirely different crime.

Here's the code for Wyoming DUI arrest:

"A person younger than twenty-one (21) years of age shall not operate or be in actual physical control of a vehicle in this state with an alcohol concentration of two one-hundredths of one percent (0.02%) or more."