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POLL: What should the legal age for drinking be?
Posted by Alcomum • 6/12/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: age, alcohol, blog, legal, limit, poll, promotion
How old do YOU think should a person have to be to buy and/or consume alcohol? Answer here:
www.alcomum.blogspot.com (poll is in right hand column)
The legal age is 18 here in the UK, but 21 in the USA. And although the age is 18 here, there are often signs up saying that you may be asked for ID if you look under 21 (never been asked, but anyway...)
However, since the UK experiences high levels of alcohol abuse by teenagers, is there even any point in having an age limit at all? They can obviously still get booze from somewhere.
User Comments
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"However, since the UK experiences high levels of alcohol abuse by teenagers, is there even any point in having an age limit at all?"
There is a point, but not on the grounds of ethics. I'm just fed up with retarded teenagers who being unable to handle their drink, end up spilling the drinks of others whenever they keel over. That's the kind of shite we really need to clamp down on. Bollocks to morality - less beer spillage is what's bloody needed.-
true - but not unique to teenagers!
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I don't think there should be a legal drinking age. We have a huge problem with 'binge drinking' in the states due to heavy restrictions.-
I'm with you. I think a lot of teens end up drinking just because they are told that they can't. -
same with sex and drugs...
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I don't see why teens shouldn't have sex :S
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If you are old enough to die for our country, you're old enough to drink.-
Well, I used to say that back in the Vietnam era. I also thought that if the government could draft you and send you off to die against your will, you should at least be able to vote. The government lowered the voting age to 18 but not the drinking age!
I think there should be a single age at which a person achieves majority: the legal ability to marry, make contracts, vote, run for public office, buy tobacco and alcohol. That you can join the Army, get married, and sign a binding contract at 18 but you can't drink until 21 is just absurd! -
Amen Brutha! -
@sweetviolet
I agree - well said!
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The thing I really object to is raising the tax on drinks to lower binge drinking. (suggested UK tactic)
People should be educated to make their own choice, not made too skint to afford another pint. Its already taxed like hell as it is. -
The problem isn't with the age, because teenagers are going to do what they want, anyway. The problem is the negative stigma that our society attaches to alcohol. In Europe, alcohol is treated much differently than in the U.S., and hence, they have less problems with it. If children are taught responsibility, and control, instead of the "alcohol kills your brain cells" rhetoric, and the problems here would dissipate as well. -
@ TRPierce - interesting. I think there might be something in that.
@ SweetViolet - I agree that there should be one single age for "majority" in terms of everything. But what should it be?-
We've already settled on 18 for everything except alcohol, so it would make sense to lower it to 18. What does the 21 thing accomplish that a $20 bill slipped to a stranger in a liquor store parking lot can't undo?
The legal drinking age in South Africa is 18. I don't see any significant difference between the teens here and American teens with regard to liquor except that a US teen with a beer in his hand is a criminal.
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One of the first acts that Mikhail Gorbachev did upon becoming leader of the Soviet Union was to clamp down on the production and sale of alcohol. The result was that all the shops instantly emptied of equipment and materials for making moonshine. Furthermore, because of the patchy quality of the home distilled liquor, deaths and lasting injuries became more common.
Raising the drinking age is just another form of prohibition; people will do what they want to do. The key is to find out how people get socialised into believing that drinking themselves senseless is a solution to anything. Where are they picking up the desire from? What can be done to replace it? -
I think the legal drinking age should be lowered to 18. If you are old enough to enroll in the military, get married and make legal decisions for yourself, you are old enough to drink. However, it needs to be consistent across all the states. Years ago, when Illinois' drinking age was 21 and Wisconsin's was 18, there was a very high incidence of teenage drunk driving deaths. Having the same drinking age across the board would prevent this from reoccurring.
I also, however, believe that the legal age to drive should be raised to 18. In the US, 16 is the age you can get a probationary drivers license. I think we should get rid of the probationary drivers license all together.-
Yup. I agree.
In South Africa it is 18 across the board...liquor, tobacco, driving, voting, marriage, contracts, military, running for public office...you are a kid until you are 18, after that you are an adult. Makes perfect sense! -
I disagree with the driving thing. High school would have sucked if I couldn't drive. Soccer games 2x a week, practice, work, track. If I couldn't drive, I wouldn't have been able to do them.
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I think the drinking age should be 1 - and the taxes on it should be increased.
I think alcohol is a very bad drug - and is not one that is healthy for those who have issues with it.
I do not understand binge drinking or alcoholism - as I have that gene that gives me a hangover every single time I drink - IT sucks - I hate feeling like crap the next day - and I hate even worse to feel like both ends of me are spewing garbage. That is an awful feeling... So I rarely drink.
Not that I don't tie one on when I do - just that it is most definitely NOT worth feeling like that very often. At least not to me. I am not one of those hair of the dog that bit you kind of person - I'm the WHOLE dog Hair. LOL!
I also have seen things horribly done in the name and clutches of Alcohol.
So - I'm not a great big fan of it.
However - I do believe that it is a nice social thing for those that do not spiral out of control.
I DO believe that people who drink and drive - ought to have their licenses yanked for life tho. Never allowed to do it again.
Perhaps that would save senseless accidents and deaths/injuries then.
Cause the only crime a person commits willingly - that can be totally prevented - and is not a hate crime - is drinking and driving. You can choose ahead of time NOT to drink - and make it impossible or difficult to do so. -
I'm with Cook and Suzie. More freedom AND education is the key, not age limits. Sex, drugs and alcohol are just made that much more glamorous and appealing through prohibition. Young people naturally are going to seek pleasure, the problem is to get them to do it responsibly. -
It's interesting reading the responses so far, particularly the views that alcohol abuse is related to prhibition of some kind. That hasn't been my experience.
I am an alcoholic, and it certainly not because I was lured by the attraction of the forbidden. I tasted a few illicit drinks as a teenager, and didn't particularly like the stuff. By the time I was about 21, I enjoyed red wine and gin and tonic (not together!), though only really socially.
Yet by the age of 33 I was drinking every day, at every hour I could, and no amount of will power or anything else could break the cycle. And I had been on a 4 year roller-coaster of getting to the point where I knew I was drinking way too much and far from socially, pulling it back a little, then spiralling down again, a little bit lower each time.
Whatever happened to get me to that point had nothing to do with age limits or anything like that. But neither was it a choice - what disease is, I guess.
I do agree that there needs to be more education and awareness about alcohol - and alcoholism.
@nothingprofound - I agree about responsible pleasure seeking. But I think there also needs to be eucation about healthy coping mechanisms tied in with that. -
I don't think generally alcohol abuse is related to prohibition, I just think it makes it more appealing to teenagers. In your case, there are obviously other factors involved. I did stress education along with freedom, and by education I don't mean just about alcohol, but also about oneself.
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25! -
Kids will get alcohol one way or another. I'm not sure laws are very effective. I was 11 when I started to drink wine coolers. I must admit to a little bit of vanity though. I stopped completely when I got disgusted over someone puking on my pretty brown suede heels and had to listedn to a sob story about some girl that didn't love him. Never want to drink like that or party again. -
Age should be 21 in every country simply because most kids under that age are to retarded to know what alcohol does to you. If you are so dense and stupid that you think drinking yourself into a coma can be considered as being fun and a means to pass the time, you should be strapped to a rocket and launched into planetary orbit.-
That would certainly take care of the growing population problem...
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Even better, two birds with one stone.
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The real problem is that kids can't handle drinking and driving worse than adults can't handle it. This is really a non-issue, because it's ridiculous (but sadly typical) for young people to insist on something that has proven harmful to them. -
How about a legal age for maturity? -
If you really read the stats done with dual methodology the countries in Europe with lower drinking ages have much higher alcoholism rates. It is not likely the binge drinking here is caused by the drinking age. The brain of 18 years old works in a way that is likely to make their decision impulsive, especially males, adding alcohol to that mix is not a good idea. The earlier you start drinking the more likely you will have a problem with alcohol. -
30 -
thanks for all the feedback so far guys. we are ranging everywhere from 1-30 to no age at all! Don't forget to add your view to the poll on the blog - see link in OP.
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I don't think it matters.. If people want to do it they will. -
Just checked on the voting so far.
21 is clearly ahead. And 25 is second. -
I think it should be 18 - with the added stipulation that parents have the right and ability to serve and properly teach their children how to consume alcohol responsibly from an early (but still healthy) age.
Honestly, the US has such puritan taboos on everything from alcohol to sex and nudity that I really think we have created a society that can no longer control itself. If we allowed ourselves, as humans, to experience life without shame or unreasonable constraints, I really believe we would be happier, healthier and more responsible as a society.
For example - sex - stop shaming people about it, and maybe they won't go batshitcrazy and have all manner of one night stands, unprotected sex, or be unable to contain themselves if they see an inch of skin. Nudity - again, it's about control. In school we had nude models all over t he place. No one cared. Why? Because nudity was a part of our lives everyday - and we saw every type of body imaginable. (Including cadavars). Alcohol - stop making it such a taboo and yet "cool" thing to do, and teach young adults and teens to appreciate the taste instead of the buzz, and you will probably seriously lower the rate of irresponsible drinking.
Even anger and violence can be lowered by this philosophy. Stop convincing people that they must always be happy, and must always take the high ground, and they must always walk away - and let them get into a fist fight occasionally. Typically (in my experience) when a group of people get together, and 2 start fighting - let them duke it out, and then it's over. Just one on one. Many of the crowd I run/ran with did exactly that. Guess what? Aside form the occasional fist fight, violence within our gatherings was a rare occurance. It was only the guys with no outlet and something to prove who caused trouble.
We need to allow ourselves to live a bit. And that goes for enjoying an alcoholic beverage, too. -
I understand the whole go to war then have a drink, but a 18 year old is under supervision in the service. He is on his own when he is buying booze at 18. His decisions are that of his own, and mostly rash and even more unpredictable after drinking. Sure, that is for anyone at any age, but I still think 21, should be the legal age. I do think those 3 years of living gives hem a better view of life. -
I think it's 18 for a reason, but if you look at teenagers in Europe there is a much lower binge drinkign rate than in the UK- perhaps that's because they are allowed to drink legally at 14?
To be honest, as a 17 year old, the drinking age doesn't mean anything to me as alcohol is stupidly easy to get nowadays, and always has been since I started to have a drink or two at parties when I was 14.
I think it shouldn't be 21 or any older because at least you learn quickly by drinking too much and making mistakes, so when you are older you won't do anything too drastic should you drink too much, as you will already know your limits. -
agree with whoever said the legal age for drinking/voting/army enrollment/marriage should all be the same.. the lower, the better-
I do definitely see merit in having 1 age of majority that covers the lot. I think... Is late, will sleep on it.
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The lower the better? Are you a fucking moron? How old are you?
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the eligibility to drink should be based on an emotional intelligence test, a lot of people would never be allowed-
lol - I think you are right! Same for marriage, babies, driving etc.
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