As you all are probably aware, the legal age here in Oz is 18, yet the majority of drunk drivers are in their 20's. But the highest concentration of alcohol present in the blood goes to the 30's group.

I heard a local DJ talking about this this morning. He reminded people that the legal age to BUY and possessing is 18, but not to DRINK.

Is possessing the same as drinking? Consumption is after the fact of possessing, right?

http://alcoholpolicy.niaaa.nih.gov/index.asp?SEC=%7B9937ACFC-DB3A-4159-B068-A302CEEE0EDF%7D&Type=B_BASIC

The 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act, [23 U.S.C. § 158], requires that States prohibit persons under 21 years of age from purchasing or publicly possessing alcoholic beverages as a condition of receiving State highway funds. A Federal regulation that interprets the Act excludes from the definition of "public possession," possession "for an established religious purpose; when accompanied by a parent, spouse or legal guardian age 21 or older; for medical purposes when prescribed or administered by a licensed physician, pharmacist, dentist, nurse, hospital or medical institution; in private clubs or establishments; or to the sale, handling, transport, or service in dispensing of any alcoholic beverage pursuant to lawful employment of a person under the age of twenty-one years by a duly licensed manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer of alcoholic beverages",

[23 C.F.R. § 1208.3].

I took my children's attitude towards alcohol and other drugs very seriously. i never looked the other way and tried very diligently to de-mistify drinking. So they were allowed to have very small quantities at home during dinner with me starting at 14 years. Then other family and social gatherings were included. If they were caught sneaking more than I had mandated they were cutoff.

Did it work? Yes and no. They did get as drunk as anyone else when away at university. But never drove drunk, never got into a car with a drunk driver, often served as the designated driver and(according to our agreement) called me more than once at night for a ride home becuase they screwed up, got drunk and didn't want to drive home. I had told them if they did this then they were acting responsibly and would be treated as a responsible person.

Seems to me that legislation without parental responsibility is only a starting point. But start we must because the status quo isn't working.

In WI, you can drink in a bar at any age, as long as you are with your parents:p

http://www.dor.state.wi.us/faqs/ise/atundrg.html

It's nice to read that the majority of posters agree that the problem isn't drinking -- it's drinking and DRIVING. I personally had the good/bad fortune to have started binge-drinking at 14 and had the urge out of my system before I started driving a car. In my view we should lower the drinking age to 16 and raise the driving age to 21. It wouldn't eliminate drunk driving entirely but I think that it would substantially reduce the risk of this potentially lethal combination.

That would be a terrible mistake. The human brain is nowhere near fully dveloped at the age of 16, and I don't think we could trust the majority of 16 year olds to drink in moderation either.