You can go to war when your 18 but you can't drink until your 21

technically there is no federal drinking age

but if states don't make it 21, they lose 10% of their federal highway funding

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Minimum_Drinking_Age_Act

 

While there may not be a distinct correlation in age, there is certainly a strong trend between the ages of 18-21. Just because a small percentages can drink responsibly doesn't mean we should give them free reigns in the bar. Most people at 18 are still very immature, especially guys.

I view drinking as a privilege. If one chooses to goto war, sign legal contracts and smoke tobacco, that only affects them. Letting a bunch of grown kids roam the bars freely and then driving while impaired affects more than just them.
Its still easy enough for minors to get alcohol. Its not a full out prohibition where one can never drink again. As long as a minor is drinking responsibly, all he will get is a MIP. I think that is a fair enough compromise.

 

I don't want my army shooting with a hangover. Think of the noise. The headaches.

We could lose the war, man.

PS: you should know by now not to take my posts seriously.

 

The odd thing about life experience is that it creates self doubt, over-analysis and an ability to rationalize impending failure or inaction. I think you're too neurotic to quickly and enthusiastically try things over and over again without over-thinking them the first time and worrying about not getting yelled at. This precludes you from learning tasks and processes by rote. And a lot of us by thirty really quit on any kind of physical or dietary fitness for the rest of our lives.

 

In the last sixty years, teenagers were in more sheltered and constricted environments with limited work or financial responsibilities; while media and society seemed to condition or normalize behavioral rebellion as a necessary rite of passage, more confoundingly so in college and university settings. There was also increased access to automobiles and consumer goods including liquor. I think these all engendered an increase in drunken driving and automotive fatalities that was only first being examined and addressed in the '70s and '80s; similar to other social crimes. I think the drinking age increase was a valid response to that then, I have a hard time believing kids have gotten less indulgent, or at least to the point that inevitable population growth makes it any less dangerous.

 

younger age drinking has a direct correlation to a loss of intellect, brain atrophy and posting dumb threads...but we know by the time you are 18, you are more than capable of killing someone...ie see Spring Highschool...Im guessing youre not even in college yet...maybe not even in 12th grade...

 

2nd hand smoke?

Drinking and driving is illegal. Drinking itself doesn't harm anyone except the person doing it.

 

with drinking, you can't win anything unlike war.

 

I stopped caring about the injustice of it all 17 years ago.

But, on the subject, going to war and drinking alcohol don't actually have much to do with one another, one being an issue of personal freedoms and the other civic duties. And alcohol isn't a straight personal freedom issue either, given that there are signficant public health implications. I think the minimum age is set appropriately, and this pressure to standardize the age requirement for all things on a single, magical birthday could only force it to a sub-optimal level.

 

Except we've also seen a lot of immaturity and inability to handle alcohol responsibly at 21 and above.

As I said I don't deny that there won't be public health consequences that said though there are public health consequences to many of the things that 18 year olds are allowed to do. As other posters have noted smoking tobacco has some big public health consequences. The ability for people to get credit cards and mortgages have big consequences to our economy. Being able to vote has a huge impact on the society. My position is that if we think that people at 18 can handle those things then I don't see why we consider alcohol separately. If we don't think 18 year olds can't handle alcohol then we should be also looking at raising the age of those other things.

As you note though minors already get their hands on alcohol but like other things illegal this just leads to a shadow economy that encourages abuse.

 

Minimum voting age should be 21 as well. Kids shouldnt be allowed to vote

 

I'd trust a teen with a rifle WAY before I trust them with a drink.

 

In Texas you can legally drink if you are under 21. Your parent, guardian, or spouse has to supervise if you are under 21.

 

Depends entirely on the kid, lots of them are completely miserable and have no idea what's next after high school; the only saving grace other than video games and the internet is that most of them probably have no access to a gun.

 

Drinking and Driving is harmless -- that is, unless you harm somebody. The same can be said of drinking on its own. The same can be said of driving on its own. Is it immoral to drink, or to drive, or to drink and drive, if nobody is harmed in the process?

 

The drinking age makes no sense. If you are under 21, your incentive is to binge drink because of the uncertainty of future supply. Furthermore, because so many people DO drink under 21, this creates a perverse situation where under-21 binge drinking is so prevalent, but because it's against the law, those who do are hesitant to call for medical help when they need it because of the fear of consequences.

 

The whole "I just graduated from HS, im in college and Im free of my parents and their rules" has no effect on drinking? Its all about the (lack of) availability?

I know I do not speak for the general, but all my underage drinking was done at a friends house who's parents didn't care how much or what we drank, as long as we didn't leave the house. It was also done at friends who were in their early 20's, and they too would only provide alcohol if we never left. I couldn't imagine how we would have turned out if we could hang out at the bar and drink all night long.