7 States draft bills to lower drinking age to 18

I think it's pretty unfair to generalize all or most 18-year olds as potential irresponsible drinkers when many older people don't know when to say when.

All in all, talk to teenagers about drinking before you think they will start and they might go into that keg party with a heads up even if you think they aren't listening.

Brilliant strategy. It will be so much easier to talk a drunken teen into enlisting.

What devo64 said is right.

What happened was the federal government said "Hey, we have a bunch of money for your transportation. But wait, before we give it to you, you need to make the drinking age 21."

Obviously they didn't say it exactly like that, but that's basically what went down. The federal government would probably demand the money back.

well if it goes through, packi runs will be easier. but seriously, i agree with raising the military age to 21, and i also agree with the problem of everyone flocking to get drunk. Although, most 18 y.o. are responsible, and if you can fight for the country and you can vote, you can drink.

A military-only bill would be absurd. It should be everyone or no one. No exceptions.

I send ultravphunter's response. I grew up in a household in which drinking wasn't an issue. My dad would have a beer or two at the bar on Sunday [still does, actually], but in my home, the only real alcohol consumed was wine at a holiday dinner.
Today, I rarely drink...usually when I go out and see a show.

Whether you're of age or not doesn't matter to me. What matters is whether you can drink responsibly.

I had personally a big problem with this proposal. Not because of the effect that this could have, either good or bad. I question the logic of the proposal that 18-20 year olds, who serve in the military, should be allowed to drink at 18. I just dont think that this is a big enough issue to change a federal law. The fact of the matter is that being in the military is a choice. Just like any other career path that Americans choose to lead. Thusly meaning if you wanted to stay home and get drunk with your friends, and go a different career path than the military you could have. I guess it just depends on how important drinking is. I mean really, this whole situation makes me sick. There are far more pressing matters in our military to worry about an under aged soldiers buzz. The way I see it, a bottle of taquilla isnt going bring back the thousands of people who have died in this war. Nor will it bring our boys back.
Its true a career in the military is no picnic compared to your average American job. But just because the military doesn't have the perks that Americans may have means they should be granted exceptions to a federal law. I'm not saying that fighting for our country isn't a great thing. People should be rewarded for putting themselves on the line for our country. I just dont think the reward should allow them to duck a federal law.

As far as the possibility that the drinking age could be changed to 18 for all citizens of these 7 states, I think its up to the morals of the citizen of these states and of the American people as a whole to decide. Being a 19 year old American myself I feel that lowering this drinking age, may cause a slight number of this generation to start drinking, because of the convenience of the change. Which will effect certain people (including myself) and will suddenly be able to drink legally in these states. I cant imagine no one taking advantage of the that fact. Especially if they were already drinking under aged. Then what happens? Do 18-20 year olds flock to these states to get loaded at bars legally? Kids already go to Canada and Mexico to be able to order drinks legally. Whats stopping this from happening in our country, if this pulls through?

It is reasonable to say that raising the military service age to 21 would not be a wise decision given how difficult it is to find recruits.

I see the issue here as being one of maturity of alcohol. Most college students I know, when they turn 21, spend the first couple months drinking like they are trying to make up for lost time. If the drinking age suddenly dropped there would be thousands of kids drinking way too much at the same time. I would be reluctant to drive for weeks. If the drinking age does get lowered, which I am not opposed to, I needs to be done gradually, with attention paid to developing a healthy respect for the effects alcohol can have. I like what Wisconsin does right now with drinking. If you are under 21, but with your parents, you can have a drink. This is probably one of the most responsible approaches to alcohol in the country.

States rights? I thought that all state powers had been usurped by congress and all of congress's power had been taken by the executive. There is no way this will fly, although it's an interesting idea. Perhaps we can move last call back a few hours as well.

What's the point? They do it anyways.

I wish I could sit back and crack open a beer, but I highly doubt it will go through because the states would lose federal funding. Even with that said, you can't just take a law that works in a foreign country, such as in Europe, and plop it in another and expect it to have the same results. Other reasons why it won't work:
1. Most Europeans view alcohol differently and don't drink to get drunk. They use alcohol to accompany meals and they drink socially, but not to the point of embarrassment. (Yes, there are exceptions to this, especially as American culture, including drinking views, is seeping into Europe in the younger generation.)
2. Alcohol doesn't have the "forbidden fruit effect"that is has in the US. Just think, if caffeine had an age limit, would we be trying hard to get soda, caffeine pills, or energy drinks to get that same high of doing something we're not suppose to?
3. America doesn't have a good public transportation system. Europe has much more compact cities with many more public options to get home besides driving. (Speaking of driving, most countries can drink and learn to handle alcohol before being handed the keys.)
With that said, I don't think it would be smart to change the drinking age until America has a different view of alcohol, and if they do change it, it should be done as a nation. If we change it, they should move the drinking age for wine and beer (common dinner drinks) to 18 and leave hard alcohol at 21 until our culture gets used to it.

My 21st birthday is in... 1 hour... so...whatever. Legalize or decriminalize marijuana and that will be of some use to me now haha.

---what baca4149 said.

dco basically took the words right out of my mouth. its about responsibility. too many people don't know the meaning of the word.

it wont happen although i would love to drink legally there are already enough drunk ass kids, we dont need more dui's and fatalities. legalize pot before alcohol.. it makes people drive slower, not wrecklessly

They are doing everything they can to get the enlistment numbers up... hahahahahah

I have to agree that its the drinking age itself that is the problem. If American kids were exposed to alcohol, perhaps in the home, from a young age, they wouldn't be sneaking out to get it, or as eager to get drunk. I watch my underage friends get wasted more because it's fun to do something illegal than because they like the high.

I think this is a brilliant idea! I would love to see it on the ballot in every state, but not for the reasons you all are mentioning.

Getting this bill on the ballot would do for young voters what putting gay marriage on the ballot did for religious conservatives... namely, give them a reason to turn out and vote!

I think the higher turnout we can get in the youth vote the better.

(Note, I think having it on the ballot is a great idea, not necessarily it passing...)

WHAT?? Are they NUTS?

I wonder what alcohol lobby has been pushing this?

I live in Canada, and I see lots of young people getting wasted all the time.

You also can't get a cab, because cabbies get stabbed all the time and don't want to pick you up.

But seriously, 21 is old to be learning how to drink, if you've been doing it on the sly for 6+ years, your attitudes are probably pretty out of whack. 18 is the age in Alberta, and by 21, you've seen some shit.

"But not via stupid commercials......"

I point out to my kids that beer commercials seem to have one of two consistant messages.

1. Stupid people drink beer

2. Drinking beer makes you stupid.

Some times it is not clear which comes first.

The sad thing is that these themes have been so prevalent for so long that they must actually work.

The problem lies not in the age requirement, but in our attitude toward alcohol. In European countries, or even Canada, though the age is lower, you don't see higher rates of crime, death, etc. We as Americans must be less rambunctious. The majority of college age youth (no offense anybody) seem to not consider the potential harm they are causing by drinking excessively. We are also, essentially, constantly anticipating the ability to drink. When we finally get the right, we immediately go out and party. In other cultures, like Italy, where children are given wine by their parents, they are taught how to drink responsibly. This is a good solution. Education. But not via stupid commercials, but by making alcohol less demonized and less idolized.

bad bad idea!

rosenj1965 says "why not just raise the drinking age to 21"

Hmm I so agree with that statement!

"Why not just raise the age to serve in the military to 21? "

I love this answer. It is just too good to ever be considered.

The other alternative would be to raise the driving age to 21. Remember, this issue is not about your right to kill yourself. it is about our right not to be killed by you.

18 year olds will drink underage no matter if it's a law or not. Ask yourself how messed up it is to go to war for your country and it's freedoms when you can't even go home for a beer. You have the right to vote for the "leader of the free world" but are denied the right to a Budweiser?

Ask yourself if you were 18 again and couldn't buy beer if you knew someone who could. The 3 year age difference is becoming more and more irrelevant since by that time it's likely you know someone who can get beer for you, especially for students in college.

Responsible drinking is something we should be teaching our young adults, since they most likely will do it irresponsibly if we don't.

Why not just raise the age to serve in the military to 21?

Its a bad idea. Same arguments caused a lot of states to lower their drinking age during the latter days of Viet Nam War. Highway wrecks and deaths went up and feds used the coercive power of highway funds to push it back up.

It is a particulayly bad idea where population centers straddle state borders. When I was a kid, Pa was 21 NJ was 18. Hardly a weekend went by without some trajedy to kids returning from a drinking excursion to NJ.

The Founding Fathers intended that states should be self-determining. Laws like a national drinking age of 21 have much more to do with the Feds asserting dominancy over state governments than with the well being of this nations citizens.

It won't work. The federal government will withhold money to the states until they get them to do what they want. The same happened in my home state of Montana when the drinking age was first moved from 18 to 21 and when most of the counties were without speed limits. The Feds said we wouldn't get a penny until we changed our ways.

The reason was "it's for the Children" but we all knew it was extortion at the highest levels.

well I turned 21 yesterday, so when I read the story I thought "a bit late!" but I whole-heartedly agree with the states who are choosing to make this move. if you're old enough to fight and die, you're old enough to have a beer.