"Even representatives of the alcohol industry say they support current laws."

Did they expect representatives of the alcohol industry, when asked about current laws, to show their boobs and go "woooo!" or something?

If they're going up against MADD, they're going to lose. Hate to say it, but it's true. I don't know that 21 does much to stop underage drinking, since my college was full of it (as are most campuses). But it's too entrenched to change now. Groups will say if we want to lower the drinking age, then we must want to kill more teens. Or something.

Definitely true, I drank way less after I turned 21 than I was drinking when I was 19. Kid's are basically forced to drink in their apartments so they just get smashed before going out on the town.

It should absolutely be reconsidered. I graduated in 2003, most of these lawmakers who are deciding this haven't been in college in decades! When I went to school I knew about alcohol, and how much I could handle because I was given it at 18 because my parents thought I was mature enough for it. When I went to college there were a lot of kids didn't have the exposure and they went absolutely crazy with booze and had no clue how to control themselves. Lower the age to 18, if you can get married, join the military like an adult, then you should be able to have a drink also.

No doubt current laws encourage binge drinking. I recently dated a British girl who had drunk alcohol growing up from like age 15 or 16 when she was with her parents. Its something they did, she saw how to drink responsibly, and she did her risky drinking and such while her parents were still around.

Here, we have a double problem. First, kids get to college and can drink for the first time because there aren't as many people around to stop them, and its pretty easy to get alcohol. Second, because its still illegal, its "cool" AND its something to hide from people who might encourage you to do it appropriately.

If the drinking laws were changed to 16, parents could teach their kids about drinking. If the laws were changed to 18, there at least wouldn't be any reason to hide it, and people would likely drink more in controlled, appropriate situations, not taking turns swilling from a bottle of cheap vodka in a dorm room.

smoking makes you look older and cool and so does drinking a beer, it a proven fact.

Once again, the US could take a lesson from the Europeans (or much of the world, for that matter)...

In a way, I oppose this, because I don't want to be dealing with a bunch of 18-20 year olds when I go out on weekends.

Having never been a drinker or gone away to college (attended the college in my city), I don't get this at all. I also don't see where they explain how the current law encourages drinking.

To me this part doesn't make sense:
He argues current laws drive drinking underground, causing more problems than they solve. "The law is out of step with reality," he says. "The law is so obviously unjust and discriminatory. It ought to at least be the subject of debate."

To me he makes it sound like since the age is 21, that younger kids hide and do it. Well if the age is lowered then kids younger than the new law would hide and do it. What's the difference?

Instead, we just steal their TV shows.

The current LAW has absolutely NOTHING to do with it. What did your PARENTS teach you about alcohol? If they let you run amok and didn't teach you anything or say anything or just let it slide thinking you'd make good decisions, then that speaks volumes.

My old man (mom died 2 weeks into my freshman year of college and I'd never touched alcohol before then) sat me down and said, "Look, kid. Your grandpa (my dad) was a stone-cold mean drunk who drank himself to death. It unfortunately runs in my family but I did what I had to do to make sure I was a better father than he was. I know you're gonna drink, but watch that shit. I don't care WHERE you are, if you are drunk or whoever is driving is drunk I WILL COME GET YOU or I will send someone to get you. I won't be mad. I swear I will come get you."

And then he ran down the DOs and DON'Ts of leaving drinks around, what people will do, etc.

He did the same thing with pot - told me it was okay but if I ever got in trouble with it, he couldn't help me. Then he told me how to roll a joint.

Talk to your kids - you've been there and done that. This ain't got shit to do w/ the LAW because THAT'S not going to help a damn thing if our culture is to let kids do as they please with no guidance anyway.

Perhaps the drinkning age should be lowered, and the driving age should be increased. I hate to point at Europe and say that they're right but...as an American living overseas I see this all the time and can't help but think that this is the right answer. Access to alcohol comes at an early age, and the keys to the car come much later; usually after the kids have gotten the binge portion of drinking out of the way and have learned some responsibility based on real life experiences.

Ah, 21... The age at which strippers and soldiers can legally drink.

I binged 3-4 times a week when I was under 21 in college. After I turned 21 I went to bars several times per week for a few months, but after that my drinking dropped dramatically, until I all but quit drinking at about 22-23.

I would agree 100% when I turned 21 my drinking went way down.

Clarification: I never smoked w/ my dad - that's just weird.

I find it funny the president of Duke is one of the big names pushing for a reconsideration of the drinking age.

I guess the whole Lacrosse incident didn't teach them anything.

Yes, I know the players were innocent, Mike Nifong was ultimately disbarred, and nothing true came of the investigation, but alcohol didn't exactly expedite the defendants innocence.

@shorty63136:

I really like your dad's no nonsense approach. Kudos to him.

@stezton: The difference is that when you go away to school you have far less supervision. When you are at home if you have somewhat observant parents they can tell if you are drinking.

@stezton: Younger kids are living with their parents, who have the ability and responsibility to maintain oversight; that's the difference.

Eh, I don't think it'd have much affect either way. A lot of the binge drinking in the 18-21 demographic is more maturity related and less of a legality issue. I think it would help lower college tuition, though, since colleges and universities would have less legal responsibility for drinking related injuries and deaths.

I don't know about some of the logic here. Why do people drink less or drink more responsibly when they're older? Because they've gotten the binging out of their system when they were younger. Well, if the drinking age is lowered to 19, won't that advance the binging, alcohol-is-a-novelty age up to a younger age?

I'm not morally opposed to lowering the age per se, but I'm suspicious that it won't fix the problem the group is trying to address.

@stezton: And I soooooooo appreciate him for it! Some people try to shield and protect their kids from the real world, then when they get tossed into it, they don't know how to react or behave. My parents were strict up until I graduated high school and I had a lot of responsibility b/c I showed they could trust me. Be real with your kids and they will handle themselves accordingly.

I did get drunk and have my dad come get me once - ONCE. And quite frankly, I was RATHER embarrassed. I've called a friend to come get me after that, but knowing he WILL means everything in the world.

ah. K. Thanks Charles Duffy & gqcarrick. I see what ya'll are saying.

Is there anyone here who didn't drink before turning 21? I think I was 17 or 18 when I had my first alcoholic drinks.

Using the Brits as an example is a bad idea. They do more binge drinking than anybody else. Not only do I know this from growing up in both London and the US, but it's pretty well documented. Lots of articles in UK newspapers about youth binge drinking. @JeffDrake:

I think people who are binge drinking will do so regardless of the "official" drinking age. I think it ought to be the same age as Selective Service eligibility, voting eligibility, etc. Coupled with ruthless enforcement of .08 BAC on the road, we ought to be just fine.

@APFPilot: Granted, one is more mature at 21 than one is at 18. I doubt the legality of one's drinking enters into it.

@shorty63136: Part of the problem is that the current laws tend to discourage a proper (i.e. controlled) introduction to alcohol by parents.

Prohibition does little other than increase the desire to drink. Hence why the attraction is lessened after 21, on average - it's no longer the "forbidden fruit."

Lowering the age will reduce the citations and arrests for underage drinking obviously.

I never actually started until I was 18 or 19 anyway, and that was with my family when I was at our lake house.

But as shorty63136 said, its all on how you are raised. I was extremely careful, and never got caught, or got into any accidents or trouble. The occasional night spent on the bathroom floor though... thats another story.

I voted no but upon reconsideration I think they should get rid of age restrictions all together, because all the deaths from alcohol poisoning would really help thin the herd of genetic defects.

I'm torn on the issue. But I definitely agree that it starts at home, regardless of the legal drinking age. My parents let me have alcohol as a teenager and taught me how to drink responsibly. I'm now 27, and I've only ever had one hangover. I never had a reason to binge drink because having a drink here and there was accepted in my family.

I also think DUIs should be punishable by death if they do lower the drinking age.

@HurtsSoGood: Arguably, numeric age has little to do with maturity. I know 18 year olds who are more mature than 25-30 year olds that I know.

How about instead of sheltering children and trying to keep them as young as possible for as long as possible, try exposing them to different things. In the places in Europe where my girlfriend has been where there were really low drinking ages, the youth didn't think it was a big deal since they were used to having a glass of wine at dinner or another drink here and there. They didn't feel the need to get wasted.

It's like the forbidden fruit, and like women actually now I think about it, you tell them they can't have something, so they want it more, and when they get it, they always have to have more than they'll ever need.

Look. There are places where you can socially drink and have a beer or two. With family. At a bar. At a restaurant. Sitting on a blanket in the park. There are also places where peer pressure encourages you to do a dozen shots and get s***faced. These places tend to be small amped up parties where people yell "Drink. Drink. Drink." at the top of their lungs. Or in the backseat of your car hiding from the cops. Unfortunately the 21-year old drinking age eliminates the possibility of the casual drinking spots and even criminalizes parents who want to give their 16 year old a sniff of wine. So we're left with no place for kids to learn to drink but with their buddies who are chugging Peppermint Schnapps and puking it all up.

I think lowering the drinking ages on campuses would be a great idea. I could even see how it could cut drinking and driving. Since most campii have only a few exits/entrances for students, every weekend, you park a few cop cars at each of them. This would save money for the local towns, as instead of setting up checkpoints on main roads, you can focus on the campus. This will scare kids into not driving. The lower age will also mean the avoiding of persecution for drinking on campus underage, so kids will be less likely to try and fit as much alcohol into their bodies in the shortest amount of time.

As a former college student, it most definitely encourages binge drinking. Though alcohol can be easy to get, you feel like it's a limited substance, so you consume as much as you can. After 21, I drank around the same amount overall, but I'd have a couple drinks every day as opposed to having 10 drinks in one night.

It's our culture that encourages binge drinking and DUIs, not the drinking age, I forsee only more to come with this.

@stezton: The difference should be fairly obvious - now people between 18 and 21 wouldn't hide it. Kids younger than the laws will always do it and hide it, but lowering the drinking age would make that number smaller.

You know, it could just be that people drink less after 21 because they've grown up and are more mature, rather than because of a drinking age...

I'm all for lowering it, just out of principal. Being able to vote, get married, go to war and all that but not have a sip of alcohol is ridiculous, but...Americans have an incredibly unhealthy relationship with alcohol. Lowering the drinking age isn't going to solve that and neither are MADD sponsored adverts or government warnings.

There need to be more frank discussions about alcohol in homes, but considering how many adults can't handle their booze, they can hardly be relied upon to teach their children any better.

Also: I look forward to more 18 year old girls being at the bar.

When you're told that you can't do something, you tend to want to do it more. As jtlight said, if you feel that you don't have access to this on a regular basis, you're more likely to use as much as you can get while you can get it vs. just holding off. These are findings that do exist for a variety of things, so it stands to reason that they would exist for alcohol.

I found that once I was able to drink legally I drank far less. Less need to get blasted at a party when you can walk into a store and buy your own and enjoy at your own pace.

I think people that are going to drink and drive are the same people who are doing it now regardless of age.

THE ONLY THING that holds me back from saying 'hey the drinking age should be 18!!" is that...

many people don't get their full drivers licenses until they're 18 years old. think of how many people, who are now able to stay out past 9 pm, would head out to the bars to celebrate?

It makes more sense to have the drinking age as 18 instead of 21, but the rules about obtaining a driver's license need to change as well. I also think more parents should teach their children how to drink responsibly in the home. I was always allowed a beer or a glass of wine with dinner, and today, I rarely get "wasted."

@IndyJaws: yeah, we're also taken a lesson from the Europeans by selling less product for more expensive prices.

College kids under 21 definitely binge drink, and it's pretty much because they have to (if they want to drink).

They want to go out to the bars and socialize, but they can't drink there. So instead of being able to go to the bar, have some drinks over the course of the evening and socialize, they end up drinking way too much early, so the effects last throughout the night.

It's the sort of thing that if you think about it, MADD should be interested in going along with. With the current laws, you get underage kids driving drunk twice as much (to the bar and then back from the bar), while if these kids weren't pressured to drink heavy at home first, that leg of the trip would be safer (and you may get the people who decide "lets get a cab home, we're too drunk" as opposed to the "I drove here safely like this, I can drive home like this too")

Just something to think about...

Not many 16 or 17 year olds know a 21 years old, but they all know somebody who's 18. Lowering the drinking age would make alcohol even more available to high schoolers. So what they're really asking is do we want to encourage people to drink at a younger age? The answer should be no.

I just don't see the point of blowing wads of taxpayer money trying to enforce un-enforceable laws.

Most people drink before 21, and I think the fact that you're "not allowed to" increases the sex appeal. People think they're putting one over on "the man."

@PinkBox: I know several people who have waited till they were 21 to drink, and they are WEIRD.

I drank when I was in high school, and I didn't hide it from my mom because she doesn't believe there should be a drinking age at all. I think a lot of the binge drinking comes from kids not knowing how much they can handle, and it's cool to get plastered.

I really don't think changing the drinking age will alter kids' behavior that much, but it could help cut down on drunk driving because drunk kids wouldn't be so afraid to call someone for a ride home. You know those outfits that offer free cab rides home on New Year's and Saint Patrick's Day? You can't call them if you're under 21. How dangerous is that?

Lower it. I binged when I was in college between 18-21. When I turned 21 and could go to a bar, it really wasn't fun any more. I rarely drink now.

Many of these lawmakers were around at a time when the drinking age was 18 and then changed to 21...Many of them COULD drink at the age of 18 when they were growing up...How can they not remember what it was like? Selective memory or something?

If you're old enough to go to war, if you're old enough to pay taxes, if you're old enough to be criminally responsible then you should be old enough to have a beer. Of course I'm from Alberta where the legal age is 18, so I never had any problems up here, but don't get me started on the BC and Sask legal age being 19.

I must be a freak, I did more drinking after I turned 21 than before.