Thread: College officials: Let's rethink the drinking age

I couldn't imagine how crazy high school would have been had the drinking age only been 18 instead of 21. There were some weekends when we would have to struggle to find an older sibling to buy booze for us.

Additionally, the 21 law has never stopped minors in college towns from going into bars. It sure as hell didn't stop me.

However, I must admit.. I have had this conversation with friends before where we all agreed we wished drinking wasn't "required" every weekend in college to have a good time. Having went to college at the University of Iowa, there isn't much else around Iowa City to do besides drink (especially during the harsh winters). During the occassional times when events come into town, we would drink before attending, so we could see standup comedy drunk, or go to a university sponsered cultural event drunk. If there was more to do around that campus, it surely would have been more socially acceptable to drink only moderately.

Over the last 5-6 years, I can count the amount of times I was unsuccessful getting alcohol on one hand.

The law inspires extreme binge drinking at a young age to the point that IMO, will lead to a record number of alcoholics/alcohol related crime/death for my generation.

I think about why or even how I let myself get arrested multiple times and while a lot had to do with the friends I have/the lifestyle I partake in, it had to do with myself and others putting alcohol up on a pedestal and never really understanding how to drink without getting out of control.

You saw it at Iowa St, I see it at Indiana.. People are getting dangerously drunk on a regular basis and I don't think that would be the case if the drinking age was lowered to 18 and kids were more experienced prior to entering College.

Originally Posted by KentDog

I couldn't imagine how crazy high school would have been had the drinking age only been 18 instead of 21.

It was pretty crazy..yep. Of course, the drinking age was changed when I was 18, and every year after that 'til it reached 21. Due to my birthdate, I had a four month dry period before I could drink again legally. Of course, this was only a technicality.

I have noticed that there seems to be a sort of suicidal mentality in regards to drinking these days. We drank a lot of Wild Turkey back in the day, but I don't remember anyone slamming shot after shot after shot like some do today. There are many more alcohol toxicity related deaths lately...not cool.

I still think that if a person could be drafted, and have the responsibility of voting, then they should be allowed to drink at 18. Of course, my son isn't 18 yet, and I'm sure my views will change by then.

Stop the presses.

We agree on something?

I had 30 shots of Goldschlager for breakfast, so I cannot be held responsible for anything I say at this mome....muhhh...momen......t..uhhhggh...

*hurls all over keyboard*

I say the drinking age should be lowered to 14.

Originally Posted by IainDaniel

I say the drinking age should be lowered to 14 months.

Drinking age should be 18, the same as the registristtration for the selective serivce.

Ok, fellas.......I am goimg to wrinkle someones panties here but thats life. I think the drinking age should stay at 21 unless you are active duty military. I always hear the argument that a kid can die for his country but he can't drink! Well lets change that. When I was in the Marine Corps and stationed in Tenn. The state law was just that. You had to be 21 or active duty. People never questioned it. College boys would stand outside the bars and clubs and the little snotty nosed Jarheads would walk right by them and into the bar. Every now and then there would be a "little scuffle" outside in which those same little snotty nosed jarheads would kick the shit out of some college boys.

drinking age is 18 here. gotta say though the same binge drinking still happens, just when the individual is 14 not 18.

cant say i really care whether or not your drinking age changes, doesnt affect me(expect when i vacation in the states) however, the same level of binge drinking must be doing more damage to the 14y.o. compared to the 18y.o.

by lowering the drinking age you dont fix any problems, you just shift the age brackets!!! people will start binging at 14 as opposed to 18.

Originally Posted by Moondogg

drinking age is 18 here. gotta say though the same binge drinking still happens, just when the individual is 14 not 18.

cant say i really care whether or not your drinking age changes, doesnt affect me(expect when i vacation in the states) however, the same level of binge drinking must be doing more damage to the 14y.o. compared to the 18y.o.

by lowering the drinking age you dont fix any problems, you just shift the age brackets!!! people will start binging at 14 as opposed to 18.

I disagree.

There would be no shift IMO.

I started drinking at 16 during my freshman year of high school.. at 14, I was still going to movies on weekends and hanging out at malls and stupid shit like that and thats what everybody did it seemed.

I think some kids will start drinking at 16, the fuck-ups at 14, and the goodie goodies at 17 or 18 when they become of age, but drinking is still frowned upon in middle school (at least where I grew up) here, so I don't think it will ever become the "popular" thing to do at age 14 regardless of the legal drinking age.

Originally Posted by soxmuscle

I disagree.

There would be no shift IMO.

I started drinking at 16 during my freshman year of high school.. at 14, I was still going to movies on weekends and hanging out at malls and stupid shit like that and thats what everybody did it seemed.

I think some kids will start drinking at 16, the fuck-ups at 14, and the goodie goodies at 17 or 18 when they become of age, but drinking is still frowned upon in middle school (at least where I grew up) here, so I don't think it will ever become the "popular" thing to do at age 14 regardless of the legal drinking age.

Young people,

was it like this for you growing up as well?

man well i have to some what agree. i think legal age for bars should be freaking raised. in a store 18 i see no problem. more alcohol related deaths come from dumb asses who get served in bars then dont know when to quit. also they dont know when to call the freaking cab. we had more trouble with fresh 21s than older people when i worked as a bartender. i think what you do in the privacy of your own house should still be up to you. as long as its not hurting any one but you who gives a shit. ya wanna get so drunk you end up sending yourself into a coma go right ahead. as long as your are not driving lol.

Like Moondogg said, the legal drinking age here is 18 and i think UK is no1 in Europe for binge drinking.

Im not sure if itll shift it back at all though, i think people will drink regardless of the laws. I know i did. I started at about 15 or so and went at it pretty hard.

Strangely enough i drank less and less after it was legal for me to do it. I guess i just got bored with it. Basically t-total for a few years now. I still have the odd brandy/whiskey/whisky every now and then, but we're talking bi-monthly here, rather than bi-hourly :P.

But yeah, whatever the law is i dont think it'll matter a blind shit, and will change practically nothing.

21 or 18 or 16 ... it doesn't matter what the drinking age is. It isn't going to change anything. Teenagers will always drink because it is the cool thing to do these days. It ain't that hard to find an older friend or sibling to buy drinks for them. If they refuse, all you need to do is offer some money, $5 or $10 bucks if you want to drink that bad and they will do it. Hell, i had a friend whose parents would go out and buy us a shitload of alcohol if we gave them the money and they did as long as we don't mention their names if we get caught and we never did.

They are making a big deal about a law that will have no affect on anything.

Originally Posted by shiznit2169

They are making a big deal about a law that will have no affect on anything.

The only reason the legal age is still 21 is because, like marijuana, it's a money maker.

The city of Bloomington made more money last year during Little 500 on drinking tickets than the University made on the actual race (ticket sales, food, donations, etc) by a wide margin.

I just want to be able to get a beer at a restaurant with my food.

If I want to get trashed, I can. Its not as if its hard to get ahold of liquor, so its not as if they are protecting anybody by keeping the drinking age at 21, realistically.

They should do the same with cigarettes.

Originally Posted by min0 lee

They should do the same with cigarettes.

lower the age to 18?