What should the drinking age be...?

I think 21 years old is fine.

I've recently read an interesting article about the drinking age in the United States. There are many reasons why it should stay 21, mainly teens driving under the influence, but there are also ideas floating around out there that are very plausible. such as the idea that teenagers should be able to access alcohol at 18 using a permit or liscence, but if, before they turn 18, they are charged with any crime involving underage drinking, or if at or after the age of 18 they are charged with crimes involving drinking, that permit is revoked and the can't drink until 21. I think that's an idea that can be considered...but then again, kids are going to find a way around any law you set. If people want it bad enough, they'll get it, no matter what the law says.

I think the age should stay as it is... but i think no matter what age you are, if you are in the military you should be able to drink... makes a lot of sense to say you are allowed to sign a piece of paper to die for your country. you can deploy to iraq, afghanistan, ect, and not come home and have a drink.

doesn't make much sense to me. i know they've done it before. military members used to be allowed to drink. i dont know what happened. but i truely don't think it's fair. i know there are people working on that now, but by the time they finally make up their minds, i'll be 21!

doesn't help to complain about it though... thats just what i think. it's not gonna stop me from opening a bottle of wine when i get home.

It should be what it is already . Most teenagers don't give a crap, and I honestly don't either . 21 is reasonable, altho I agree with above about the whole military thing . All of my friends ('cept like, two, who are complete goody two shoes) have drank alcohol before . I've gotten tipsy, and half of my friends've gotten so drunk, they cna't even remember what happened .
There's a drinking age; but it don't stop my friends from openin' a bottle o' beer or wine .

16. It is in other countries (some younger), why can't it be in ours?

My brother started drinking when he was 15. My mom started buying him beer when he was 17. Kept him from going out and driving.

Drinking and driving should never be legal.

Oh, leaning toward my liberal side, I think there shouldn't be a law prohibiting people of any age from drinking.

From a realistic standpoint, the drinking age should be 18. Why should legal adults not be legal drinkers? You can go to war and fight for your country, but you can't drink beer for another 3 years! Pah. That's folly.

From a perspective which I cannot think of a name for...Alcohol is a debilitating drug, along with most illegal drugs. Therefore, drinking should be illegal for all ages.

Exactly jane, it should be illegal. Alcohol is too risky for weak people to have any control over, and should be banned. it screws up so many family's mentality and lives, and single people themselves. It ruins your liver if you take it in too bigger doses, and it doesn't HELP anything, it only harms. think of all the teenagers right now who would be GETTING ON TRACK if they had no choice of alcohol whatsoever. if it just wasn't in any shops, and there weren't any random clubs or bars.

BANGBANG-- I don't know if you know this, but America -has- tried banning alcohol completely with the prohibion act...it did not work out too well. It brought about boot leggers and the illegal distribution of alcohol which was punishable by law, which cause the police force to concentrate all their energies to stop this illegal distributing, which in turn meant they wouldn't be concentrating on other crimes. People will drink no matter what.

Angelina-- Europe is a different culture. And in comparing Europe and the US...Europe has a much higher rate of binge drinking. Not only that, Europeans don't start driving until they're 18, and many don't buy a car or actually start driving until they are in their 20's, reducing the number of alcohol related car crashes. So if you were to change the drinking age, you may have to change other laws as well.

Many of you say "well if we're able to die for our country, why can't we drink?" This has happened too. when the states actually had control of the drinking age, many states made it 18...until the number of drinking related car crashes increased... The federal government gave states an ultimatum : either make the drinking age 21 or we withhold funding for federal highways, which needed to be funded because there were so many alcohol related incidents.

It may be ridiculous, I do agree that 16 is a little low for driving, but europeans have adequate sources of public transportation where as American doesn't have as much. America is so spread out, teens get jobs at 16 but then they need a way there, so the driving age is 16 because we don't have the luxury of being a few blocks from everything, as it is in many parts of europe. So, people may ask, why don't we fund public transportation? Our cities are so spread out and we don't have the money for it. It may seem logical that it would be less money for one vehicle to take 30 people at a time, rather than 15 cars on the road...but public transportation is useless unless all of the people on that bus are going to the same destination or are along that route. It is inefficient for a bus to travel the same amount as all 15 cars. I agree with you though, the forbiden fruit makes alcohol so much more tastier to young americans. But that 'big deal' idea is the difference between american and european culture.

It doesn't really matter, if you take the time to think about it. People will drink when they want to drink, and will most likely not be punished. Which is fine by me. I have faith that humans are capable of making their own decisions, for better or for worse.

Yea, except the adults would get flat-on-your-ass wasted too!

^ Really? I think porn should be exterminated.

(Yes, I actually do find porn disgusting and degrading. It fills me with hate).

Goodbye.

I do agree with you Angelina, that age is the threshold of adulthood and if you're an adult, all adult responsibilities should come with that. But if we look at things logically, from where we are today, it would never work. Our society is used to the higher age limit for drinking and the lower age limit for driving. We would either use this new rule and take advantage of it as best we can, or we would complain about it being too high for certian things. But this thread is mainly for opinions, so ultimately I agree with your opinion. I just don't think it would work in our society today.

I think the ages are working out fine. Sure, people like to complain, but really...the age limits have purposes.

It should be left up to the discretion of the parents. They need to educate kids on alcohol young. That way it's no big deal and they don't get wasted every other weekend when they're 21.

Think about it. They're told for 21 years they can't do it. What do you think they are going to do as soon as they can? Yea. Drink.

I think they should create a test to test your maturity level,if you can pass it then you can drink,I know mature 18 yr. olds and inmature 40 yr. olds, alcohol in the hands of an inmature person can be deadly.

I don't know about strict drinking age, but I think the entire approach to alcohol in the US should be different. In most European countries, alcohol is just a part of life. You drink it at the table with your family... so it's no big deal. In America, however, there's this idea about alcohol that says that its the way to rebel - a rite of passage. Drinking to the point of slobbering inebriation becomes an iconic indicator of adolescence. Which is pretty lame, I think

The age is just fine. (21) but i think they need to be more strict