College Presidents Want Drinking Age Lowered...

[ChubbyBanana]

UNDATED (AP) -- College presidents from about 100 of the nation's best-known universities -- including Ohio State -- are calling on lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18.
They say current laws actually encourage dangerous binge drinking on campus.
The movement called the Amethyst Initiative began quietly recruiting presidents more than a year ago to provoke national debate about the drinking age. Schools represented in the group also include Duke, Dartmouth, Kenyon and Morehouse.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving says lowering the drinking age would lead to more fatal car crashes. MADD officials are even urging parents to think carefully about the safety of colleges whose presidents have signed on.
Both sides agree alcohol abuse by college students is a huge problem.

Your Thoughts?

[callmetaternuts]

Re: College Presidents Want Drinking Age Lowered...

Being an older guy (28) i dont think its a good idea to lower it. But its not like its impossible for people under age to have a beer somewhere. Wish you could somehow tailor it to the individual. Some people should never drink........ever.

[Scott]

Re: College Presidents Want Drinking Age Lowered...

I see no need in lowering it and I'm 23. These 18-20 year olds are gonna drink regardless.

[NYJets]

Re: College Presidents Want Drinking Age Lowered...

Of course it should be lower but it's not a big deal people are going to drink anyway, and at least at colleges do it without any legal consequences most of the time, so I'd rather they worry about more important issues.

Plus I'm going to turn 21 in about half a year, and I want it to mean something.

[Cebby]

Re: College Presidents Want Drinking Age Lowered...

They should keep it as it is.

Currently, it's moderately difficult for high schoolers to get alcohol so they can drink and drive. Sure, the stupid college kids are beyond hope, but at least we can help prevent idiot high schoolers from killing us.

[BunnyHardaway]

Re: College Presidents Want Drinking Age Lowered...

Every other developed country in the world has a lower drinking age. Kids my age don't abuse it like kids here do because they can legally drink it and it's really not a big deal to them. I would love for it to be lowered.

[Stumbleweed]

Re: College Presidents Want Drinking Age Lowered...

They should lower it. It's a basic inequity that was a popular retort in the 60's, but still stands true today -- you can go fight and die in Iraq, vote for public office, gamble away your savings account, smoke yourself to death... but you can't buy beer? Weak. I understand the argument that it will cause more people to drink overall, but plenty of studies done have shown that this is a temporary effect that will eventually plateau off. Just like when the quasi-legalized weed in The Netherlands -- the marijuana usage rates went up initially, but now are lower than most other countries where weed is illegal, including the US.

The binge drinking argument is a good one also -- people who are doing things illegally tend to go overboard more than those doing it legally. And as the poster above me said, societies where drinking and/or drug use isn't seen as such a taboo/act of rebellion have WAY less instances of binge drinking, drug/alcohol-related deaths, and less social problems coming from the drugs. America has been draconian and ridiculous about drugs since the 1920's and very little has changed policy-wise.. pretty sad really, because the drug war and its tributaries are responsible for the incarceration of hundreds of thousands of people whose lives were likely (mostly) ruined by the charges or the time they spent in prison/jail.

And on a higher level, it's pretty ridiculous to both require campuses/municipalities to waste money policing people who are underage drinking as well as wasting money/time/resources by punishing the people involved when they get found out -- those Minor In Possession charges will show up on background checks, etc. for jobs and have the potential to screw a lot of things up for the future. It's just ridiculous basically... more wasted money prosecuting people who haven't done any real harm. That's America for you, Prison USA.

[Acid]

Re: College Presidents Want Drinking Age Lowered...

Every other developed country in the world has a lower drinking age. Kids my age don't abuse it like kids here do because they can legally drink it and it's really not a big deal to them. I would love for it to be lowered.

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You're the reason the legal age should be higher.

[NYJets]

Re: College Presidents Want Drinking Age Lowered...

[ChubbyBanana]

Re: College Presidents Want Drinking Age Lowered...

I'm not quite so sure about whether it should be lowered or not. While I agree that I really didn't have any trouble obtaining alcohol when I was underage if I wanted it, I definitely wasn't as mature as I was when I turned 21.

I did some REALLY STUPID things when I was drinking underage, and I am lucky I didn't kill myself or hurt someone else in the process.

That being said, I probably did stupid things while drinking after I turned 21, but they weren't nearly as frequent or as severe.

I also agree with above post, that some people shouldn't drink at all.

-AS

[superjames1992]

Re: College Presidents Want Drinking Age Lowered...

I think they should lower it to 18. If you can go to college and serve in the military, you should be able to legally drink. That's my opinion.

It used to be 18 in many states, anyways, before they started federalizing it.

[auburntigersfan]

Re: College Presidents Want Drinking Age Lowered...

If a person can legally be drafted to go to war then he should be able to consume alcohol. It's simple really.

[slickdtc]

Re: College Presidents Want Drinking Age Lowered...

If you're responsible with it, you should be able to drink. They should catch the trouble makers and let the peaceful, responsible ones do what they want. Unfortunately, the majority of people are idiots.

[Cebby]

Re: College Presidents Want Drinking Age Lowered...

I think they should lower it to 18. If you can go to college and serve in the military, you should be able to legally drink. That's my opinion.

I assume this applies to cocaine as well?

I think the whole "serve in the army" thing is stupid. You can join the army, but you can't own a handgun until 21 in most states. You can join the army, but can't rent a car. As I understand it, the drinking age was established to keep it out of high schools. How anyone could disagree with this is beyond me.

Frankly, if you're 18 and can't get alcohol, you don't deserve any alcohol.

[Chaos81]

Re: College Presidents Want Drinking Age Lowered...

I think they should lower it to 18. If you can go to college and serve in the military, you should be able to legally drink.

So why not 17? You can serve in the military (with parental consent) and go to college at 17. Hell, why not even lower. My cousin was in college at 14, he should be able to drink because he was in college right?