Hey everybody... I am pretty sure this has been discussed before but I couldn't find it anywhere.

I basically am giving a speech in about 3 weeks on why 18 year olds should be able to drink. I need everybody's opinions on why they think 18 year olds should, and shouldn't be allowed to drink.

I am going to use your guys responses as resources (kinda like a survey) for the paper. Thanks in advance for the help. Feel free to argue and debate all you want because it will help me out even more. Thanks

Jason

 

They lack the maturity to responsibly drink

 

Pros: We all get laid a lot more often because drunk 18 year old chicks put out more than sober ones. Less police walking through bars randomly carding people in college towns, less underage drinking , less unsupervised parties, and more revenues for bar owners.

Cons: Increase in drunk driving, longer waits to get into the good bars, longer waits to get cabs, I'm willing to hang it out there and say you're going to have more people come down with alcohol poisioning, more people drinking (lets admit, its not altogether a great thing to do), lastly, I'm 25 years old and didn't get to use this fun little loophole.

Good luck.

 

Many of the pubs/bars in the UK have turned to over 21's, why? Because theres less fighting, attitude. The town I live in used to have 28 pubs. its about 2 square miles!!! It was full of young pi$$ heads looking for trouble. Now most of the bars have turned to over 21, they are allot more sociable, relaxed atmosphere, and more enjoyable.

Being 18 all you want to do is get smashed, not enjoy and drink sensaibly. The UK's well known for it.

The only problem with not allowing 18 year olds in pubs is they turn to hanging around on the streets. Its certainly 6 to 1, half a dozen to the other.

Its not untill you get to my age, 26, you think how much better it is to have a licence for over 21.

 

I think if the person is considered old enough to get married then they should be allowed to drink.

 

It's not about the age, its about accountability for your actions.

Current research shows that the typical American does not fully mature (i.e. is fully aware of consequences of his/her actions) until 24-26 years old. Of course that number varies by +50 to -10.

A don't have a problem with 18 year olds (or 21 year olds for that matter) drinking IF THEY AND EVERYONE THAT DRINKS is held fully accountable for their action.

In my opinion the penalties for DUI are much too easy on 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. offenders. There was a case in New Orleans of a drunk that killed three innocent people after his 8th DUI charge. He had never spent a day in jail prior to this incident and had three prior DUI accidents.

If driving a car while drunk is only worth a $500 fine or a slap on the wrist, then standing in a bar drunk waving and shooting a gun should have the same punishment. They are both lethal weapons being abused.

If we made the fine 5 years in jail for first offense and life in jail for the second offense there would be a lot fewer innocent people killed.

Most bars/clubs have bouncers/door checkers to check for underaged people coming in, but NONE OF THEM have a simple breathalizer test for people going out. The cost would be minimal,but the effects would be enormous.

If you're a college student walking to the bar, I say knock youself out and get drunk every night if that's your thing. But if you drive accept the fact that you could ruin the lives of innocent people as well as your own.

I am fortunate enough that no members of my family or close friends have had their lives ruined by a drunk driver, but that could suddenly change at any time.

 

Current laws don't effectively stop teens from drinking anyways... the way my friends and I see it, if we're old enough to be drafted and serve in the military, we should be old enough to sit down and have a few beers- legally. It's not going to happen any time soon, though, and we know that.

 

18 is the legal drinking age in my province, and it's 19 in the rest of Canada.

Doesn't seem to be such a big deal.

 

well it's like this

The age used to 18, but they found that 18 yo's were buying beer for 16,15,14 yo's and there were alot of accidents, deaths etc. So somebody said, hey! Lets change the age to 21. Its a responsible age, and most 18 year olds will still be able to drink if they wanted to,and were responsible about it (like responsible enough to not get caught) but at least it will keep this stuff out of the 16 year old's hands.

but now ever went crazy about the underage drinking thing, and theyll bust you hardcore even if you are 20 it sucks. well at least it did before I turned 21

 

As a kid growing up in England alchohol was never an issue, I could pop into the pub at the end of the lane in my teens and grab a pint without anyone thinking twice about it. Likewise my wife remembers being sent to the store with her sisters when they were < 12 years old in Spain to buy beer for their parents.

I've never understood where the hangup associated with drinking in the U.S. comes from but it is my belief that the puritanical based and somewhat supressed nature of Americans has done the youth bad by not educating as to the consumption of alchohol at a younger age.

You only have to spend a weekend in a college town to understand what I am talking about -- suddenly these kids have access to alchohol and no understanding as to how they can consume it responsibly. That's not to say that older adults *always* drink responsibly either -- hell I was pissed last night and am paying for it today.

Is 18 better than 21? Probably not. But an interesting side note for your paper, until 1987 (? or 8) Colorado laws stipulated that 18 year olds could drink at establishments that served only 3.2 beer. The historical notion was that 3.2 was "non-alcholic" and anyway to make a long story short the law was changed at the behest of our wonderful federal government using the carrot and stick method of funding.