Do you think States should lower the drinking age to 18?

Yes for exactly the argument you made. Either that or they should raise the age to join the military to 21. If you can patrol an Iraqi village with an AK-47 and possibly give your life, you should be able to buy a beer. No other argument even matters. If you risk giving your life for your nation, you should be able to buy a beer in your nation. It's a question of rights, not statistics.

I mean, people can quote statistics all they wish... though many statistics favor lowering the drinking age... but the bottom line is, unless they raise the age to join the military... it's a mute argument to me.

In New Zealand The Legal Drinking Age Is 18 And Its Great But Kids Over Here Are Starting To Drink At 12. So I Think Yall Should Keep It As 21 Because Then Yall Wont Have Young Kids Starting. Maybe Lowering It To 18 But Have The Clubs Still 21

Of course! At the very LEAST 18! I personally believe that it should be lowered to 14 or 16, BUT under adult parental supervision only, and ONLY with drinks with lower alcohol content, such as wine first.

Think of it as when you got your learners permit to drive, there were restrictions on the hours you could drive, at first a parent had to be present etc.

America is the ONLY country that gets the whole drinking thing wrong. And it is sad to say pretty much the whole world laughs at American kids when they go overseas for spring break or vacation to drink. They overdo it. Americans are the main ones you see binge drinking passing out and acting like idiots.

In most foreign countries, parents teach their children HOW to drink responsibly, not to drink and drive, the amount that is "overdoing", and that wine and hard liquor are DIFFERENT ;)

The problem here is that at 21, kids have already moved out, so they are learning to drink from their friends, NOT their parents. If you lower it to an age when the kids live at home, the conversation will start with the parents instead (A MUCH more responsible group than friends).

Allow a small amount of wine at 14 under parent supervision only, within the primary residence, only before 10pm, with no other non-relative minors on the premises during consumption (Almost identical to what my learners permit said, no other teens allowed in the car, parent required , no driving after 10, etc)

15, increase the rights and or time, possibly increase alcohol percentage allowance.

16 increase a bit more less restriction, allow limited public consumption with a low restricted blood alcohol limit (Allowing public consumption only to a certain legal limit)

17 , pretty much unrestricted.

Kids are likely going to drink someday, so let the parents do the hands on teaching with reasonable government step by step restrictions .

At 21, parents influence in this matter is pretty much moot, hence all the binge drinking that most other countries just don't see.

I most certainly think so, YES. Over in Germany it is actually 16. I think the law in the US should be lowered to 18. Then lowered to 16 a few decades later. Once it is lowered, it will be abused less often. Many people now only drink because it is illegal. If you eliminate the illegal part of that, then there are just people who wont drink leftover.

The people that say "No" really have no idea or sense of reality, and don't see the benefits it has on so many other countries.

It was tried and it didn't work.

There's no relationship between the two age minimums. The quesiton is whether 18-year-olds can in fact drink responsibly. And the evidence shows that they can't and that by letting 18-year-olds drink, you were putting a lot of alcohol into the hands of 15-17 year olds.

Just because one age minimum applies to one activity doesn't mean it should apply to every activity. We don't give people a right to drink based on whether they have a right to serve in the military. Those are just two different things.

Well being that I served in the military I know that let you drink on base if you are 18 unless it has changed since I was in. The main problem is that there are 18 year olds in high school who are in close contact with 14 year old freshmen. So I would say no keep it the way it is and allow it for military ID

The drinking age was 18 for my parents and they both did fine. It wasn't raised to 21 in most places until about 20 years ago. If you are legally an adult, and can be charged with crimes, be liable for your debts, be liable for any contracts you sign, etc. then you should have the FULL RIGHTS of an adult, which include the right to drink alcohol.

Yes. I do think drinking in the comfort of your own house, is not as bad as drying. I am pretty sure our government has thought about taking away the drinking age, such as Italy, but then they realized the first generation that they do it would be chaotic, with deaths and accidents on the rise, but eventually it would slow down because people wouldn't be as wanting to get drunk so often, since it is widely available, and common use.

The drinking age in the UK is 18. It seems to work fine for us.

Actually, the argument doesn't 'mean squat'. The principle is that the responsibilities in choosing to have alcohol should not be regarded as weightier than the responsibilities in choosing to enlist. One involves risk to one's own health and an acceptance of the potential consequences of intoxication. Another involves the acceptance of the potential consequences of a rifle round in the chest.

Absolutely not. But my emotions may be answering this one, because I have on my mind a horrible DUI multiple death accident that just happened a couple days ago, that is the worst I've ever heard of.

I would rather see the active military duty age raised rather then lower the drinking age. If one additional death occurs because of relaxed drinking laws it would be a tragedy.

When DUI touches your life personally, well, you can't imagine until it happens to you . . .