I'm not so sure the risk is parents teaching their kids responsible drinking, it's parents teaching OTHER PEOPLE'S KIDS responsible drinking that is risky.

It was explained that the current drinking age of 21 means those under 21 are drinking but drinking in thier houses, apts. dorms, and frat parties. They are not on the streets bar hopping at 18.

Change the law to 18 and more drunks will be on the roads.

As far as increasing the driving age, that's not really the issue here.

I grew up in MA and it was nothing to get booze at 18 when the legal age was 21. That was 40 years ago. I have to believe that it's even easier today. Add drugs into the picture and it's a scary situation at any age.

I think that if they are old enough to vote they should be allowed to drink legally. The converse makes no sense whatsoever.

The voting age and the drinking age are opposites.

Those that drink at 18 probably don't vote.
Those that vote at 18 prabably don't drink.

I haven't missed an election since I turned 18 and I was drinking plenty of beer then too.

And where does that statistic come from? Are you saying that drinking, since it's against the law in most states, is only done by immature people who choose not to execute their civic responsibility?

I'd bet that many young people at Yale, Harvard, Brown etc. drink before they are 21 and also vote. They also do drugs and screw.

Here's some interesting info on the subject:

http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/LegalDrinkingAge.html

I say 3 years old is old enough to start drinking.

The big picture is great for the Universities and for the booze companies. There's even more potential revenue if the NCAA falls in line.

I agree with the serving your country, can vote, but not being able to legally buy and consume alcohol arguement. It's b.s.

The current laws are not stopping the kids on the campus I'm on, they are partying like it's 1999.

Unless you drink alone, that means someone has to DRIVE to the house, apt, dorm, or frat. Of course, in the case of our high school, it was usually on someone's land in the country or out at the nearby lake. So EVERYBODY drives, and there's not a taxi to cart you home after chugging Natural Light for a few hours. If nothing else, price is a deterrent in bars. I spend for two beers today what I used to pay for a 30 pack of The Beast years ago. Also, the bar environment is much more condusive to DDs, taxis, and safe-ride programs.

Honestly though, it's missing the point. You have to look at the motivation to drink. Making something illegal only makes it more tempting. Youth rebellion and all that. It's not a big deal to be drinking legally, hell anybody can do that. Take away the forbidden fruit motivation, you take away the "look at me" drinkers.

No age limit on dying for your country.

Let's raise the drivers license minimum age to 21. Then the drinking and driving ages will be the same (for those who think that this is a logical argument)....

Yeah that's a demonstration of adult behavior: "If my parents (or the law) says I can't do it, then I'm gonna do it to prove them wrong."

I do wonder about the presidents signing on to this "idea". They stand to make a lot of money (games, and general campus caterers) at a time when the universities are looking for more money.

mmmmmmmm beeeeeeeer...
damnit, now I want a cold one.

[QUOTE=URY914;4130323]It was explained that the current drinking age of 21 means those under 21 are drinking but drinking in thier houses, apts. dorms, and frat parties. They are not on the streets bar hopping at 18.

Change the law to 18 and more drunks will be on the roads.
QUOTE]

I was only repeating what was said on a morning talkshow.

It may be KS only, but alcohol is not allowed on state property. That includes football games, BB games, etc. Ball games are BYOB at KSU.:D At least in our case, the school wouldn't make a dime. However, law enforcement would lose a steady revenue stream from busting kids for MIPs or DIYs for a .02 BAC. So that guarantees it will never pass.:rolleyes:

[QUOTE=URY914;4130599] That's a crock. Underage college students pre-game, they drink enough to get a buzz before they go out.

I think the drinking age should be phased in, like driving permits. Beer/wine OK in a restaurant with parents, or on campus (no driving) at 18. Phase in alcohol until full drinking privileges at 21.

It is ridiculous that I know my son was drinking in his room at a frat house at 19, yet we couldn't stop at a bar and have a beer together.

Any input from our Canadian friends? Drinking age in Canada is 18 I think?

edit: pregame definition: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pregame&defid=1483677

I'm personally against lowering the age from 21 to 18. I was around in the 70's when Illinois lowered the drinking age from 21 to 18. It was an absolute disaster. The State raised the drinking age back to 21.

As a culture, we don't teach drinking responsibly. Alcohol is part of many cultures because drinking water was so bad, the only liquid safe to drink was anything that was fermented: beer, wine. I have traveled in Europe and the drunk driving laws are very tough. Every time I was in a group, there was a designated driver. There is a high awareness of drinking and driving and the consequences. Europeans tend not to binge drink, except maybe at soccer games. I've seen them consume 1 bottle of beer over an hour. They tend to enjoy a drink with food and/or conversation.

The Illinois laws for underage drinking are zero tolerance. Any under aged driver and passenger has their license suspended automatically (this includes the underage passengers than have any consumed any alcohol regardless of the amount). They are also required to appear in court.

I would like to see driving raised to 21 and in some states, it's moving in that direction. Not by legislation per se but insurance rates are very high for teens, especially boys. Economics is taking teens off the roads. The other is driver education hours - more hours required to get a license. This has had a positive effect in reducing teen accidents. Limiting hours and adding a curfew has had positive results.

I wonder what the real issue is in lowering the drinking age. My first thought is greed - money. More money to be made.

but there's an alcohol age for selling booze, most countries 16
Belgium for instance, 16 year old can go in a pub and order a beer, but if the barkeep gives him scotch, he can lose his liquor license...

most parents here will let a kid sip beer at young age (8 to 10)
i know some that have occasionally dipped the pacifier in beer...
followed by "EEEK that tastes bad, how can you drink that crap"

then at puberty somehow it suddenly becomes tasty

we also have a (dying) tradition of table beer
it's sweet, brown, minimal (.4 percent or something like it) alcohol content , old people like it, and it used to be the beer for kids 5-10 years old , at least before fizzy sugar drinks became common....i grew up on table beer...

no offence, but the laws may be tough , but chances of being caught were/are very, very low... it's only gotten a bit more risky in the last 4-5 years, and still.. low probability...

not proud of it, but i did drove around to clubs, doing 3-400 km round trips, disco to disco... and more often then not the legal limit was busted before i even left the house...

not anymore, i'm older and dare i say it, wiser now...besides i don't tolerate it anymore like in those days... i simply didn't get ****faced in the true sense of the word...

i was one of those rocket surgeons in colorado when i went to college there...problem was we always ran out before the broncos game started...had to get more of the 3.2 stuff at half time.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/suppo...leys/pint1.gifhttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/fles.gif

lolo, Europeans don't binge drink?
Tell that to my uncle ;) He'd probably fall over again :D

Japan has it set at 20 and a drivers license either at 18 or once you graduate high school.

I've seen girls from 15 in bars. I normally kick them out because it is sooooo wrong.

You can still buy beer from vending machines but they have sort of disappeared in the past 3 years. Great things to have. Sure you have your under age drinkers but to be honest. Nothing like I saw back home.

In the US, drink is easy to get and so are drugs. So, WTF? You have to be 21 to booze it up but you can get weed easier! Something is wrong!

We used to go to a buddies house in HS. The reason was simple. All the beer we could afford (had to calculate his mom's share in too :( ) but then we had the house to our selves. When we ran out she went on the beer run for us. :D Our parents sort of knew what was going on. We kept the rule of keys in the bucket and if didn't have a designated driver we had to walk home and walk back to pick up our keys the next day. It was a great deal.

lolo, I don't think UCSB is going to like the idea of dropping the age limit :(